God Eater Burst: Howl at the Moon
by Adonai63
Summary: The truth of the world was set: the weak were devoured by the strong. Everyone was bound to the system, and no one was able to go against it. It's simply how things have always worked. But a Lone Wolf desperately howls at the Moon.
1. Prologue

_Hi! Just a short introduction. . . so, uh. . . hi—?_

_Right. . . before we move on, I just would like to explain the reasoning and context behind the title first: Howl at the Moon._

_Someone (or something) howling at someone (or, again, something) usually signifies the subject being driven by a will to do something (or someone, heh, just kidding) that is simply impossible, like chasing an unattainable dream. They get overrun with so much emotions that they end up simply howling instead, like that feeling you get when you're so frustrated and can't really do anything, but in the end, no matter how much you scream and shout, nothing changes still. That something (or someone—this is the last, I promise) will remain distant and pretty much out reach.  
><em>

_In this case, I chose the moon as the object and signifier. _Maybe because it's distant and out of reach? Maybe because it's used prominently in the OP song and in the game itself? Maybe I just felt like it? _There are many reasons why, and really, it's up for interpretations. No, seriously, it's up to you how you interpret it._

_So. . . that's about it! On with the story!_

* * *

><p><em>God Eater Burst<br>__Howl at the Moon  
><em>_Adonai63_

_Rated: T_

_Action/Adventure/Friendship/Romance (yes, romance_—deal with it!)__

_The truth of the world was set: the weak were devoured by the strong. Everyone was bound to the system, and no one was able to go against it. It's simply how things have always worked. But a Lone Wolf desperately howls at the Moon._

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

****— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —****

* * *

><p><em>"If you want to find the trail. . . if you want to find yourself. . . you must walk your own path alone. . ."<em>

* * *

><p>The steel sky hung heavily upon him, the sun disappearing behind those same gray-colored clouds. Soon, the evening rain would come, and the moon would come, and together they would soak the land in sadness.<p>

On this seemingly endless path of clouded weather, he journeyed alone, moving aimlessly to and fro. Through sweltering deserts, over tempestuous mountains, around ghastly valleys, beyond vast oceans even, he walked and walked, sweeping over darkened lands that were filled with nothing but sorrow; a barren earth that he had come to routinely lament over.

With each passing day, he forgot what it meant to be courageous. Little by little, he lost his heart. But knowing he could no longer turn back—_he must not turn back_—he marched on unsteadily, and along the way, bit by bit, he scattered. As he drifted across countless lands, he forgot who he was, and came to lose even what little he had left.

Underneath this ashen sky, slowly and slowly, he withered. Piece by piece, his memories were swept away, like dying leaves and petals carried in the wind; beautiful and fragrant, yet inevitable decay was all that awaited. A blissful demise.

He had become broken and weak, lost and tattered, alone and afraid. Completely powerless and vulnerable, his failures haunted him, and he came to naught to be that someone who could protect those who needed to be protected from danger. He was now nothing but a coward pretending, easily frightened by simple things, even by the daunting sadness that rose before him, larger than any he had ever seen. Like light and cloudshadows, it passed over him and over all that he did. It was vertigo. A heady, insuperable longing to just fall and drown in his misery.

Still, he reveled in his weaknesses, as awareness made him stand up to them; for consciousness of his infirmities would surely drive him out of himself to which in true strength lied. He could at any time always choose to go back toward the safety of what was familiar, but he knew, that moving forward toward growth must be chosen again and again, _fear must be overcome again and again_, even while the cruelty that was this reality took everything else completely apart.

In this bloodthirsty era, if he remained completely still, unmoving, not taking even a single step forward, he would surely die. If he remained as he was, remained stood frozen in the face of fear, waiting for a savior that was evidently never coming, death would surely come and strike swift like lightning.

So, above this calloused ground, quickly, he ran. And with each step, he walked over his powerlessness. One at a time.

As the sound of the wind suddenly changed, a brewing tempest heralding the prelude to another battle in this never-ending war, he screamed out loud and drowned out the loud gust whispering in his ears, telling him that he was a coward, that he was weak, that he was alone.

With trembling fists, he howled at the moon.

Yes, he was a coward. Yes, he was weak. Yes, he was alone.

But in the face of this pain, this anguish, he would not fail; to the darkness, he would not succumb. These feelings that flooded his emotions, these tears that overflowed his heart, were proof that, even with punctured wings, he was capable of rising above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.

It mattered not if the world took everything away from him. He would not lose, _not even to himself_—_never again._

He would keep his promise, _even if it was the last thing he ever did._

The future he sought, surely it was there. He would get it, _even if it were over the clouds._

* * *

><p><em>"You must grow at a slow pace. . . in a dark cocoon of loneliness. . . so you can fly like wind, like wings, when you awaken. . ."<em>

* * *

><p><em>Can you hear my voice—?<em>

_I scream out your name over and over. . ._

_Until it reaches you. . ._

_I will point this needle in my heart at you. . ._

_No matter how many times I fall, I'll keep going. . ._

_Until the day we can finally meet again. . ._

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**God Eater Burst**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em>Only the dead have seen the end of war.<em>

_- Plato_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Prologue<strong>_

* * *

><p><span><strong>2065 A.D.<strong>

**Eurasian Continent (Former Soviet Russia)**

* * *

><p>"What the hell is the meaning of this, Director Schicksal? I ask for backup, and you send us a group of three mere children? This is an operation of extreme importance! How do you expect me to report this to HQ?"<p>

"Please, do calm down, General," the Director replied, calmly reclining in his chair as he held the wireless phone to his left ear. "They are the best of the best. I assure you, each of them—_alone—_is completely capable of doing the work of your entire battalion."

"How dare you mock us!"

Safely confined within the walls of his office, hundreds of miles away, Johannes' lips curled into a cruel, sadistic smirk. What was the harm in antagonizing the General, even if just for a bit? He was, after all, just another simpleminded warmonger. Their thoughts, their ways, were far beneath him.

Honestly, he found it quite laughable, how predictable simpleminded people were. With just having an idea of their thought patterns and behavior, they became easily manipulated puppets under his fingers. It was as simple as making a video game character move according to his will by pressing the right buttons.

"Oh, by no means, General. I have absolutely no desire of mocking you. Besides, this entire operation is under your supreme leadership. Our division merely specializes in aftermath management. And until such is required of them, the unit is at your complete disposal."

"But—"

"And while it's a little embarrassing for me to ask this of you, this is, after all, my son's first mission, so I'm counting on you to take very good care of him."

Johannes quickly ended the call before the General could reply and go on an uncultivated tirade on how ridiculous of a request that was, to ask him to do the job of a _bloody_ babysitter. He could only imagine the General scrunching his nose in anger, yelling, "_This is an outrage! Who do you think you are!__"_

He smiled wistfully to himself as he closed his eyes. Nothing—_nothing—_could have made this moment any better. The time had finally come for their dream—_her_ dream—to be realized. This marked the beginning of their reality and the end of humanity's fantasy.

_("From the ashes of the past, the future begins. . .")_

"Now then, the final struggle of the 'old' human race. . . Let's watch him witness mankind's last stand."

* * *

><p>The General threw his radio harshly toward the desk, slamming his balled fists down as he did so.<p>

Completely still beside him stood his subordinate, looking on with uninterested eyes as the radio skidded off the table and subsequently ended on the red-carpeted floor with a soft _thud._

"This is an outrage! Who does he think he is!"

The Corporal fixed his clear glasses with one finger. "It's truly vexing indeed, to be made fools of by such people," he remarked while he watched his superior grit his teeth. He remained in his upright posture as the General curled and uncurled both hands in anger.

_Nothing out of the usual_, he thought sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. The _cueball_ was _always_ angry.

"I'm a Five-star General of the Armed Allied Forces! And you ask me—_me!_—to be babysit that. . . that _freak_? Ha! Ridiculous!"

The General was wearing a dark, army-green coat with a single row of gold buttons and matching trousers, neoprene spectra-lined gloves, shining epaulettes on his shoulders, and a pair of polished black boots. Seeing no need for it, he left his formal military hat off, displaying his round, hairless head for the world to see.

However, despite being completely decked in his formal attire, there seemed to be no end to his coarse rant.

"And _those_ are the so-called _divine_ wielders? The only ones supposedly capable of resisting the Aragami? They're just a bunch of inexperienced brats! What are they thinking, leaving the fate of the world in these abominations' hands!"

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down his nerves, simply reminding himself that he was General Frankdown Wright Balding. He was known for his unwavering resolve.

With a resounding grunt, he straightened and fixed his uniform. He had seen hundreds of gruesome battles in his lifetime and had stared down death eye to eye countless times. The five stars on each of his shoulders weren't simple decorations after all. This was _his _war. He wasn't about to just let some group of kids do his work for him.

"I won't allow this. . . I won't allow others to just accept this! I'll have this operation succeed with my own hands and show the world that there's no need for these. . ." The General scrunched his nose in disgust and spat the words out, "God Eaters."

* * *

><p>With blazing lights, the helicopter carefully made its descent onto its designated helipad, the continuous spin of its blades causing multiple ripples of snow around it as its landing skid slowly met solid ground.<p>

The Helicopter Landing Officer, who had been waiting for quite some time now for their arrival, held in place his Ushanka, preventing it from getting blown away by the wild gusts of wind. He lowered himself into a crouching position to avoid getting thrown back as he cautiously approached the chopper, all the while covering his eyes from the violent snowstorm. He then waited for the passengers to alight.

The door quickly slid open. The first one to step down was a woman in her mid-twenties, her long raven hair violently dancing in the wind. The sudden onslaught of the cold breeze made her want to run back into the warm confines of the helicopter. It was a lot colder than she had expected, and it was a weather she was highly unaccustomed to. Even with her thick jacket on, the bitter cold of this particular winter night still burned her skin.

Tsubaki had never before experienced such a harsh blizzard from where she came, a place that was once called 'Japan'. She even had to squint and cover her eyes just to see through the constant cascade of snow. Clicking her tongue, she took a few steps forward to allow the next passenger off.

It was her younger brother, a lit cigarette in his mouth, though it got easily snuffed out. With the same huge, distinguishable armlet permanently bound around his right wrist like his sister, Lindow put his hands into the pockets of his jacket to try and at least cover a couple of exposed parts of his body.

He did a quick look-over of the area, although he could barely see anything through the darkness and thick squall. As far as he could see, the whole place was barricaded with tall brick walls and electric fences. It was a large compound, that was for certain. But the only present structure in the near vicinity was an old European-styled building.

"So, this is their command base, huh. Not bad, not bad. They could really use some solar heaters, though," he mumbled to himself before calling out, "Hey, Soma! Come on!"

The last passenger to alight was the youngest among the three, a boy who had barely started undergoing adolescence.

Completely covered with his favorite jacket, the hood partially hiding his face, Soma glared at his senior through long, white fringes while clicking his tongue. "Tsk. You're too damn noisy," he muttered, cold mist forming before his parted lips as he spoke. Lindow, the insufferable jerk, had practically talked his ears off far before they were even halfway to their destination. He was such quite the irritating blabbermouth, he thought to himself.

The waiting officer cautiously approached their group, and, to be heard over the howling wind, he announced in a very loud voice, "We've been expecting you! Please, come this way!"

The group eagerly followed him into the large building. The temperature inside wasn't any better though, and it was almost ridiculous how finely appointed the interior of the building was. It appeared to be more like an old but beautiful mansion rather than an actual military base, with paneled wooden walls, long rich carpets, finely carved and polished statues, and shiny marble floors. The entry hallway even featured a large chandelier and a massive staircase that led to the upper floors.

The God Eaters were then led down hallway after hallway, turning around countless corners and passing by identical frosted glass doors in even intervals. Along the way, they were repeatedly given hateful, prejudicing looks. Such stares shot at them practically bored holes on their backs, sides, and fronts—well, basically _everywhere_.

If only the soldiers' heated gazes could warm them up physically, Lindow could only wish.

"Damn brats. . . Who do they think they are. . ."

"We're supposed to entrust our futures to them? This gots to be a joke!"

"Yo, that girl's pretty hot. Mmm-hmm."

Lindow, who was forced to throw away his cigarette, stepped closer to his older sister and whispered in her ear, "Nee-san, it doesn't look like we're wanted here. Let's just go. This is a waste of time, and you know it."

Tsubaki sighed in annoyance, her forehead scrunching as she felt a familiar prick in her head. Due to some recent events, she had been experiencing recurring headaches. Although, this time, if it was due to the cold or her brother, she was not so sure.

"This is a mission, Lindow, so whatever it is that you have to say, just _can _it."

"Yes, ma'am."

Tsubaki rolled her eyes. She was sure now. The _prick_ was definitely him.

Lindow slowed his pace and fell in step with Soma, who was lagging a few steps behind. He was staring at the ground with unblinking eyes, completely indifferent to his surroundings. Lindow found it odd why the youngster acted in such a manner.

"Hey, Soma. This is your first mission, right? You should relax a little more," he told the brooding boy with a grin. He placed an arm around his shoulders, but the younger God Eater simply nudged it off with a shrug.

"Whether it's my first or last doesn't really matter. It's a mission that needs to be accomplished like any mission's supposed to be."

Huh. Now, where did he just hear _that_ from. "Uhm, how old are you again?" Lindow teased, only to get a grunt as a response. He sighed. "I guess I should be glad I could entrust my back to someone like you." In a _very _low voice, he whispered in Soma's ear, "You know, sis can't really be trusted. She may not seem like it, but she's actually a huge _klutz_!"

Soma wasn't really paying any attention, though. He was more annoyed, if anything at all._  
><em>

"Lindow. . ." growled Tsubaki. She stopped walking abruptly and whirled around to face the other two, but her tigress-like gaze mostly fell on her annoying little brother_, _the intolerable cause of her constant migraine.

At the sight of her stare, Lindow seemed to have been frozen on the spot, which, Soma noted, even the freezing temperature had failed to do. That definitely caught his attention. For this person he considered as one of the most dangerous people to freeze in the face of fear, it must truly be a force to be reckoned with. And in this case, Tsubaki was the object of his fear.

He respected her even more now. On the side, he took a mental note to never get on her bad side.

Meanwhile, the Officer continued to move forward, completely oblivious to the three. After a few more steps, however, he also stopped.

They had finally reached the Briefing Room. Or, at least _he _did. Unbeknownst to him, his companions were steps far behind.

"Here we are. Right this way, please," he gestured to a large double-door. But no response came.

"Here we are," he repeated a little louder this time, turning around to check if the group was even following him. "Right this. . . way, please. Uhm. . ." The scene that greeted him made him blink in confusion. _What the—? _Quickly, he coughed to get their attention. "Excuse me."

Tsubaki narrowed her eyes one final time at Lindow for good measure, as if saying, _I'm warning you._ She then turned to the confused officer and thanked him with a big, bright smile that made him blush.

After a few more moments, Lindow finally managed to sigh in relief, pressing a palm on his forehead. _Man, that was close_. He had completely forgotten his sister's extremely sharp senses. She was practically the _embodiment _of sharp. She was 'sharp' as in keen and accurate, astute and perceptive, fierce and vigilant, not to mention attractive and stylish. Yet, she was also 'sharp' as in intense and severe, cunning and cutting, harsh and violent.

She was such an ice queen, he thought. Yes, he loved his sister dearly. But she was always just so. . . cold. So cold, she was probably even much colder than the nearly freezing temperature they were currently experiencing.

Well, to be completely honest though, he didn't actually mind all that much that she was in fact cold. It was just that. . . Why even towards him! Her very own cute, little brother! It was depressing!

Then again, she had always been stuck-up, that much was a fact. And he had to admit, he had always been too carefree also. They were two siblings whose personalities were on opposite sides of the spectrum.

No wonder people always asked if they were truly blood related, he suddenly realized as he followed the others and entered the room.

Inside, dozens of soldiers were already assembled in rows, standing upright in straight, meticulous lines. They were all wearing the same set of uniform: dark-green coats and trousers, with matching Ushankas, and various patches that designated their respective ranks and positions.

Standing in front of them all, beside a large projected-image of a map on the wall, was General Balding. He eyed the group with cold slits as they entered the room sauntering unceremoniously. _Ungrateful rascals_, he cursed the lot of them.

"I'm glad you could finally join us," he said, his voice dripping with obvious sarcasm and disdain. He then cleared his throat before subsequently starting the briefing.

"Let us begin. This is a crucial large-scale search-and-destroy operation to draw the Eurasian Aragami into a strategic location: a Nuclear Fusion Reactor."

With the long stick in his hand, he guided the projected image of blue, triangular symbols on the wall, dragging them halfway across the map and placing them on top of a red, square area.

"The objective: wipe them all out in one clean sweep by detonating the reactor. For this, I'd like to ask the. . . God Eaters from the Far East Branch to play the part of—let's say—'shepherds' and guide the Aragami to the target location. That is, if you don't mind," he said, his lips curling slyly.

The soldiers present in the room turned back to look at the three who were halfheartedly paying attention to their Commanding Officer.

"Damn brats. . ."

Completely unaffected, Lindow looked up with a blank expression on his face, a cigarette midway to his mouth. "Hmm. . . You know, I think he mistook 'shepherds' for 'sheep'. It's quite obvious that he had planned from the very beginning to use us as sacrifice."

"Either way, we're the ones who are to lure the Aragami into the trap," Tsubaki answered as she scanned the clipboard in her hands. "So quit complaining."

Lindow scratched the back of his head. "Right, right."

"Any questions?" General Balding asked, oblivious to the siblings' conversation. His inquiry was met with silence. "Very well then, the operation is to commence in—"

He was suddenly interrupted by the wail of the alarms. Everyone immediately started to panic when flashing red lights filled the room.

"What's going on!" he asked no one in particular.

The Corporal hastily approached him. With a shaking voice, he told the General, "Sir, it seems a large group of Aragami has appeared out of nowhere and is now engaging the first defense line around the reactor."

"What! How did this happen! What's the status?"

Seeing as he had no idea himself what and how things had gotten to this, the Corporal chose to answer the only question he could respond to. "They are presently penetrating the primary armor, sir."

"Tsk. For these things to go against my plan. . ." _They truly are monsters_, he finished to himself. He gritted his teeth before ordering, "All units! Prepare for departure!"

"Yessir!"

All the soldiers saluted General Balding before rushing out of the room in ordered groups, the General and the Corporal bringing up the rear themselves. The room was left empty in a matter of seconds, leaving only the unit from the Far East Branch.

Lindow puffed smoke out of his mouth and threw down his cigarette, subsequently stepping on it. "We should probably head out, too," he said, but then he noticed the look on Soma's face. "Hey, kid. What's wrong?"

"The name's Soma."

"Ah, right, right."

Soma slowly stood up from his crouched position. His Aragami senses were tingling. "They're here. They've infiltrated the base."

* * *

><p>Balding rounded the corner into another long hallway and quickened even more his already fast pace, his ever-following subordinate a few steps behind him with a clipboard in one hand and a radio in the other. They silently listened to a mash of gunfire and outcry coming through the radio, then it turned to the sound of static.<p>

After a few grim moments of silence, the Corporal started his report. "Sir, the Aragami have already broken through the shields. The secondary defense lines are now trying to hold them off."

"_Trying_?" the General reiterated, clenching his gloved fists into tight balls.

If only he had the strength. . . These monsters. . . He wasn't going to let them get away with it! He was going to rid each and every single one of them from the face of this planet!

"Goddamned beasts. . . They've completely gone against my plans. . ." he muttered to himself with gritted teeth. "What's the progress report on the reactor?"

"Sir, we've given it a boost, but it's still roughly at 40%. It will take some more time until it can be detonated. However, the God Eaters have already been dispatched, and if they are truly as good as what the Director claims them to be, I think we'll be able to hold out until then."

"Hmph. I guess we'll be able to make use of those damn brats after all. We'll have them last out as much as we need."

"Yes, sir. And if necessary, we can always—"

The Corporal was cut off by the loud sound of shattering glass.

Both of them whirled around just in time to see something burst through the windows. Balding stared at it with wide panic-filled eyes. "What's an Aragami doing here!"

"Sir, please, get back!"

Corporal Jessie Wuss, completely horrified, stared at the flying creature. With an eggshell-like body and a large singular eye, it looked like nothing but an absolute abomination. Fused to its dark, oily flesh was what appeared to be the physique of a human female, her hands extending and sprouting into feathered wings on each side and her posterior growing into a long tail fin. It was an Aragami known as a Zygote.

Hands shaking, Wuss nervously drew out his gun and fired relentlessly at the monster. But, with a loud roar, the Zygote swept down and easily swallowed him whole.

General Balding fell back in shock as his devoured subordinate's blood splattered everywhere: on his face, the floor, the walls. For a short yet significant moment, he was struck with an unfathomable terror and fear. Then he remembered that he was General Frankdown Wright Balding. He was known for his unwavering resolve. With this thought, he gritted his teeth and drew out his own weapon, determination filling his eyes.

"Y-you! How dare you, you monster!"

He stood up and started taking wild shots at the Zygote, throwing caution and care to the wind. However, all the bullets nevertheless failed to graze the flying beast, leaving not even a single scratch on its sturdy exterior. As soon as he ran out of bullets, the Aragami roared and flew towards him.

"RAAAWWWRRR!"

The General flinched slightly but never moved an inch, daring not to close his eyes. Again, he reminded himself of who and what he was. He was not one to simply back down, especially not to something that was unworthy of such. And if he was going to die, then he was at least going to face death eye to eye and give it a piece of his mind.

But right before the Zygote could take a bite of what could be called a sour and bitter creature, without any warning, it was sliced in half cleanly and sweepingly through the middle like it was some soft cheese.

Balding fell back on his behind as a fountain of red blood sputtered and splashed on his bearded face. He stared at the monster's halved corpse in shock, then looked up at the person who arrived just in time to save him. "You! What are you doing here!"

Lindow wielded his God Arc with ease and swung it in the air twice, before placing it on his shoulder with one hand. "Is that how you're supposed to thank the person who just saved your sorry butt?"

The General clenched his fists while he pushed himself up to a standing position. Rather than being thankful, he spat at the God Eater, displeased at his disrespectful language. "You sure got some nerve talking to me like that. . . You arrogant bastard. . ."

Lindow narrowed his eyes. He mostly paid no heed to any curse and name sent his way, but he particularly did not like getting called a 'bastard', and for good reason.

His blood boiled immediately, and his grip on his God Arc tightened. He was going to gut this piece of trash just like he did the Aragami, even if it was the last thing he ever did. And if he was ever asked to report, he could always just make it seem like he never made it there in time. Yeah, that was a good plan, he thought.

"You son of a bitch," he growled, but the General seemed to have not heard as he was more focused on fixing his appearance.

However, before Lindow could act on his thoughts, Tsubaki quickly placed a calming hand on his shoulder from behind. He glanced back at her sister and was about to tell her off, but, quickly recognizing the look in her eyes, he shut up immediately.

"Let it go," she whispered understandingly. He grunted but obliged nonetheless. "General, sir, your orders?"

Balding was trying to straighten his blood stained uniform, attempting to look respectable and dignified but failing miserably. "We will proceed with the plan. We are still counting on you to hold off the Aragami until we are able to detonate the reactor."

"Yes, sir!" Tsubaki saluted with a nod. She grabbed Lindow's shoulder and hastily dragged him away. "Come on, you idiot."

"Yeah, yeah. . ."

Soma, who was leaning against the wall, pushed himself and stood straighter. "That was the last of them."

"Then we better get going, too," Tsubaki replied. "Those soldiers won't stand a chance against the Aragami."

General Balding watched the trio walk away with their God Arcs held in their hands, still unable to accept the fact that these God Eaters were the only hope humanity had left. But, for now, he was going to relent and adhere to that widely spoken truth.

If this was his own form of thankfulness, he wasn't so sure himself.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>Hovering hundreds of feet above the ground, the helicopter carefully circled around the Nuclear Reactor where the immense battle was still raging in full. The unit from the Far East Branch watched as hordes of Aragami easily overwhelmed the heavily armed army. Even with their big guns, they still stood close to no chance as they were picked off one by one.<p>

Bloodied human bodies and torn flesh were scattered all over the desolate land like pieces of litter, fresh crimson blood staining the pure-white snow-filled terrain.

It was a complete massacre.

"They're swarming the whole place!" Lindow announced, stating the ridiculously yet painfully obvious.

Tsubaki couldn't help but agree, though. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she thought of how this was an absolute mistake. Lives were being pointlessly thrown away for a cause that was doomed from the very beginning.

_Tsk, what were they thinking—?_

She hated that she wasn't powerful enough to have been able to prevent such a mess. She tightened her grip on her God Arc and turned to her comrades.

"We still have to buy time until the nuclear reactor is ready!" she ordered as loud as she could, though she herself was barely able to hear her own voice over the deafening clatter of the helicopter's rotor. "Are you guys ready?"

"You know, even though we're the shepherds, those Aragami are still pretty violent for mere sheep," Lindow put in.

"But didn't you just say that we're actually the 'sheep'?"

Tsubaki's voice gave away no hint, but her eyes twinkled as she caught on. Lindow grinned. He very much liked this side of his sister's.

"Then there's no mistaking it! These sheep are indeed very violent!"

"Let's go! Don't let a single one get through!"

Tsubaki waited for her companions to nod before she jumped off the helicopter. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes when she heard Lindow's joyous holler coming from somewhere to her left. But after awhile, all she could hear was the rush of the wind as she plummeted towards the ground. She was very much used to the feeling of the air trying to peel her face off, but what made this time much worse was the sting of the bitter cold.

With military-trained sight and heightened vision, she scanned the immediate area and effortlessly scoped multiple targets from a hundred feet up in the air. She shot off multiple rounds of Blaze Bullets that homed in on a large group of Aragami, instantly causing them to burst into countless pieces of limbs and flesh.

Soon after, she landed on the ground, the earth beneath her feet cracking as it yielded to the heavy pressure. And aside from her right foot quivering slightly, it was an almost perfect landing.

A sensation suddenly ran up her spine, forewarning her of an approaching threat. She quickly turned around just in time to see a Zygote that had tried to sweep down on her from behind get easily crushed underneath the weight of Soma's God Arc as he touched down on land himself.

"Thanks," she told him, lowering her Assault Rifle that she had already poised, ready to shoot.

"No problem," the younger God Eater replied.

A low whistle sounded from a couple of feet to their side.

"Not bad, kid," Lindow commented, a number of Aragami corpses already strewn all around him. He twirled his huge blade around his head and smirked. "But I'll show you something a lot better."

With a mischievous wink, he made a mad dash towards a large group of Aragami, leaving only clouds of dust and snow in his wake. He hacked his way through numerous monsters, smoothly tearing their hardened hide and easily managing to take down Aragami after Aragami with each fell swoop.

Seeing an opening, he jumped and lifted his God Arc over his head, bringing it downwards and consequently crushing the skull of an unfortunate Ogretail. Taking advantage of his momentum, he propelled his body high into the air and spun in a full arc, slashing a bewildered Sariel cleanly in two on his way down then landing on the ground in a crouched position.

Completely invigorated, he straightened and looked back at the remnants of his somewhat short yet extremely violent exploit. He smirked and called out, "Hey, Soma, did you see—"

Before he could finish though, the God Eater in question speedily ran past him at a low angle, appearing like he was gliding on the ground, his God Arc extending behind him like a large, metallic tail.

Eyeing his target, Soma then halted to a sudden stop right in front of a surprised Kongou. The Dark Sawblade tightly gripped in his hands, he spun his body around and swung his weapon with all his might. All the weight and momentum of his attack smashed into the the clueless beast's face, its mask of armor shattering. The force was so strong, the large body of the heavy Aragami was even thrown backwards.

_Hmm. I guess they call it a Buster Blade for a reason_, Lindow thought as he watched with appreciation. After a few moments, he blinked and shook his head. The kid was showing off! Well, not like he was one to talk.

He re-positioned his own red, chainsaw-like God Arc and took a running stance, muttering, "Can't lose to the new kid."

He then proceeded to slice any Aragami in his path with his blade, all of them going down like bowling pins as he plowed and plowed through enemy lines.

As the battle progressed, Lindow and Soma had managed to break through countless ranks of Aragami while Tsubaki backed them up from behind with rapid gun-firing. The group wasted no time in reaching the third—and last—defensive line, where all the remaining survivors appeared to have gathered.

Meanwhile, a soldier watched them with wide eyes, amazed to see the infamous God Eaters in action.

"What are they?" he wondered out loud. It was unnatural, how the trio, without any trace of difficulty, slaughtered all the Aragami that had overwhelmed their huge army, which the higher-ups of HQ had personally prepared. "Are they even human?"

He was so distracted, he failed to see the large Kongou pouncing towards him, which moved shockingly very quick considering its huge bulk. It was only when a shadow fell before him that he finally noticed the large beast. It had jumped at him, taking him by complete surprise. He stared on in horror, his gut-wrenching scream drowned out by its roar.

"WHAAAH!"

Far before he had even joined the army, he had always imagined that his life would flash before his eyes in his dying moments. Maybe some memories from his horrible childhood, joyous first-love, and the disaster that was his marriage. However, in reality, all he truly saw was the Kongou's bared dagger-like fangs, and the only thing he felt was absolute fear and terror. Trembling, he closed his eyes and waited for his impending doom.

But it never came.

After a few moments, he slowly opened his eyes. The Kongou's face was gone, and in its place was a bloodied God Arc.

Lindow had somehow managed to make it in time when he sliced the Aragami's head cleanly off its body. Blood sputtered out of its severed neck like a fountain while the corpse collapsed right before the soldier.

"Get back!" the God Eater told him.

Cold sweat beaded on the soldier's forehead and his heart beat furiously at a very alarming rate. He had just narrowly escaped death.

"Th-thanks," he muttered, but if his savior heard, the God Eater showed no sign.

"Get back!"

Appearing next to Lindow, Tsubaki repeated the order, her Assault Rifle in hand. She stood before the last defensive line, which was now obligated to protect the final protective shield of the reactor.

"We'll hold them off from here! Just a little longer!"

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>General Balding stared at the bodies inside the room. . . or at least what was left of them. The Aragami had obviously beat him there first. His blood boiled while he clenched his fists. He was seeing red, and not just because of the rage that overcame him. He was seeing red everywhere quite literally.<p>

Fresh blood painted the floors and the various machinery of the Central Command Room. They were even dripping from the ceiling and down the walls, making puddles of crimson. And with the emergency lights ceaselessly flashing, the room was completely colored with various shades of red.

"Those. . . damned. . . accursed. . . monsters. . ."

He closed his eyes. No matter how many times he witnessed such savagery, he could never get used to it, even after all these years of active service. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't quite so heartless.

Yes, he knew what went around in the rumor mill, how his own men called him a cold-hearted bastard. After all, he had ears everywhere.

And yet, he never chewed them out for it. Being viewed as such had its own merits and benefits after all. Not to mention, they were still his—_his, and no one else's—_men. How they acted, and how they turned out, were _his_ responsibility. Their lives, and their futures, were all entrusted to him, by their family, their friends, their teachers. Consequently, their deaths would be a direct result of his failure to lead them properly.

After saying a short prayer for the souls of his dead comrades, he walked towards the control console and keyed in his identification code. The computer beeped in recognition. He then grabbed the mic as he pressed the green button for 'TALK' to issue his order.

"To anyone who can hear me, this is General Balding speaking. All units, evacuate immediately. I repeat. All units, evacuate immediately."

He gripped the mic tightly, waiting for any kind of response. But none ever came.

After a long while, he finally dropped the mic and walked away. It wasn't that he had abandoned hope. He simply still had more pressing matters to take care of. Besides, if his troops were in fact still alive, then they should have immediately retreated.

He silently bid farewell to the room that stunk of the death of his comrades and went on his way to the Main Control Room.

In no time, the General had reached his final destination.

The scene in the room was no different the previous.

After another short prayer, Balding approached the main console and, again, keyed in his identification code. The computer beeped in recognition, and he then entered in another set of codes: the missile command.

They had no more time left to wait for the reactor's overload. Their only other option now was to force the reactor's detonation. And what better way to do so than with a missile.

The system sounded suddenly, denying his access.

"Damn it. . ." he muttered as he slammed his fist down on the machine.

He quickly punched in the override code. The computer flashed a new window and asked for fingerprint authentication. He pressed his thumb on the scanner and waited for the system's recognition. It beeped while the monitor screen flashed the words 'System Authorization Complete' in green. His name, General Frankdown Wright Balding, appeared, and he then entered the missile command code once again when the system asked for verification.

After the target location was confirmed and everything else was finalized, the only thing he had to do next was to press the button to launch the missile itself. He sighed and took a much needed deep breath.

The moment he had been waiting for had finally come. The culmination of all his plans. . . It all came down to this particular moment at hand.

He was satisfied with the singular thought of triumph; that even after so many surprises happening after one another, somehow, this operation—_his_ operation—was still going to succeed. And that, above all, he was able to finish everything with his own hands.

Without feeling any regret, he lifted the clear, protective cover and smashed the red button with his fist.

"Die, you godsdamned freaks of nature!"

The ground started to shake violently as the warning alarms sounded within the room. In a matter of seconds, the large, destructive projectile was launched and was on its way toward the reactor.

The General sighed. He hadn't even notice that he was holding his breath. It was finally over.

However, something was wrong, and it took him a moment to realize what it was.

For some reason, the ground was still shaking despite that the missile was already too far gone.

He lifted his head as realization dawned on him. Not a moment later, the wall of the room got blasted off its place and was replaced with a huge, gaping hole.

Over the waling of the alarms sounded what seemed to be a submarine's diving call overlapping with a loud roar. Then, through the hole on the wall, came an Aragami. A Quadriga.

Its metal exterior skimmed the ceiling of the room, causing crumbs of concrete to fall as it forced itself into the room.

Balding closed his eyes. He knew that, this time, there was no escaping death.

But, if he was going down, then he was at least going to take this hunk of metal down with him.

His eyes shot open. He turned back to the console and, with no need to authorize his access once more, he quickly set the system to self-destruct the entire base. The computer flashed a question, and he paused for a moment and regarded the situation. Considering his own predicament, it was highly unlikely that there was still another living soul in the near vicinity.

Unsure, yet also fully confident of this, he inputted the time. The countdown instantly started while a computerized female voice spoke over the PA system.

"Self-destruct mechanism initiated. Thirty seconds until destruction. All staff evacuate immediately. I repeat. . ."

_30. . . 29. . . 28. . ._

Balding then drew out his gun and shot off the last of his rounds at the Aragami in a useless attempt to do it some damage, the bullets merely grazing the monster's metallic surface. He threw his pistol down when it finally ran out of load.

He nonetheless succeeded in catching its attention. The Quadriga shifted its small skull-like head and looked right back at him.

He stared at the steely beast with rage-filled eyes. It was the same type of Aragami that wiped out his entire unit back in Moscow. He was the only survivor. And it was because he ran away.

This time, he was not going to the same. He was no longer that same weak-willed coward. And even though he knew he was about to meet his end, he was still thankful that he was given this one last form of blessing. His final act before leaving this accursed world: his ultimate revenge.

The Quadriga roared and started stomping on everything, flattening steel tables and chairs under its caterpillar-track feet.

Balding jumped out of its path, still nimble despite his old age. He went toward the nearest desk, quickly checking and shuffling around with its drawers' contents. Finding what he was looking for in the furthest corner of the lowest drawer, he slipped his finger into the ring and pulled the pin out just like he had done a thousand times before. He calmly held the grenade and patiently waited. He needed to time it right.

Finally, the Quadriga roared, leaving its mouth wide open. And completely vulnerable.

Balding pulled his arm back and threw with all his might, hoping that his accuracy wasn't far off. He smirked with pride as the grenade went straight down the monster's throat. Despite not having thrown for decades, he was, after all, still the best pitcher back when he was still in Little League Baseball. It was one of the few things that he would forever be grateful for.

A second later, the Quadriga shuddered as its insides were blasted into chunks. It opened its mouth only to gush out flames. Steam rose up from its steel armor as it slowly collapsed down to the ground, its parts falling off from their hinges. Despite being composed of heavy metal like an armored vehicle, its interior was still undoubtedly vulnerable.

The Aragami finally let out its final roar before completely breaking down on to the floor.

General Frankdown Wright Balding let out a satisfied sigh, and somehow, all the built up thirst for revenge he had accumulated throughout the years was released in that single breath. He was finally at peace.

And whatever it was that would come next, he would gladly welcome. Still, he hoped it would be eternal peace.

_3. . . 2. . . 1. . ._

* * *

><p>"GYAAAH!"<p>

The constant loud screams of their dying comrades pierced the remaining survivors' hearts with fear. Overshadowed somewhere behind the staggering multitudes of their enemies, they had lost all sight of hope. Despite that the mighty God Eaters were on their side, survival still appeared to be quite a long shot. They were still continuously losing their ground. And losing men.

Once, a Kongou even managed to break through their lines and grabbed hold of an unfortunate soldier, dragging him away. They heard his bloodcurdling screams, but nobody ever saw what happened to him next as he was drowned in the sea of monsters. They could only imagine.

The order from their General to retreat was issued a long time ago, but they had failed miserably in their desperate attempt to flee as it was easily thwarted by groups of Sariels.

Now, they couldn't risk losing their remaining choppers. No matter the small chance, escape was the only thing they could cling unto. Yet, at the same time, the reactor was about to be detonated soon. Time was running out on them, fast.

Lindow looked back at what remained of the once very large army. The loss was quite significant.

He turned to his sister and spoke what they were obviously both thinking. "We won't be able to hold off the Aragami any longer than this. We should retreat, now!"

Tsubaki scrunched her nose. He was right, of course. They had run out of other options, however. She quickly wracked her brain and tried to formulate a plan of action, but before she could, a wave of panic suddenly coursed through the remaining survivors.

"What!"

"No way! What are we going to do?"

"We're all gonna die!"

Soma hacked a wandering Ogretail that had sneakily approached their distracted group. Annoyed, he looked back. "What is it this time?"

Tsubaki narrowed her eyes and walked up to the highest ranked officer. Her brain instantaneously registered his widened eyes and body trembling in obvious fear.

She grabbed him by the collar and drew his face close to hers. "What's going on?" she asked, uttering each word carefully.

It took some time for the soldier to process her question. Easily threatened, he answered, forgetting his composure. "W-we just got a message. It appears that the whole command base is now gone. The General activated the base's self-destruct sequence. . . an-and—"

"And _what_?" Tsubaki prodded, shaking the soldier slightly as a sense of foreboding settled on her. Whatever it was, she knew then that it wasn't good news.

"It seems he also had a missile launched," the officer answered, swallowing a little. "The target is this reactor."

She let go of him and closed her eyes, putting a hand on her forehead. "That son of a bitch. . ."

He truly was a bastard, she thought to herself. For him to be this desperate to accomplish this mission. . . Had HQ been this willing to waste these many lives from the very beginning? She had not really thought that they were this heartless. They were the real monsters, not these Aragami.

And to think that the three of them had indeed become shepherds, except, instead of the Aragami, they had led these soldiers to their untimely deaths.

Lindow, who was busily holding off a large group of Aragami with Soma, screamed at her, even calling her by her first name, which he rarely did for obvious reasons. "Tsubaki! What's going on!"

She ignored him and turned back to the soldier instead. "How much time do we have?"

The officer shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe a couple of minutes? Five minutes tops."

"That should be enough," she mumbled in assurance, more to herself. "Gather everyone and issue another retreat."

"But— That's suicide! Those Aragami will just take the choppers down again!"

"We'll cover for you as much as we can."

"Then. . ." He paused as her words slowly sunk in. "What about you guys? We can't just leave you behind."

Tsubaki smiled bitterly at the officer before walking back to her 'underlings'. "You don't have time to worry about us. Now, go!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the officer saluted before making his way to what remained of his comrades.

They were hiding behind huge lumps of Aragami corpses. A little commotion settled on the group as he passed on the order to retreat once again, but he quickly calmed the panic. When everyone finally had a clear understanding of the plan, with new found respect, the officer looked back one last time at the God Eaters. After saying a silent prayer and wishing them all the luck, he guided the other soldiers toward the helicopters.

"What was that all about?" Lindow asked as Tsubaki walked and stood next to them. She then explained the situation to him and Soma, skipping minor details. "So, Baldy finally kicked the bucket, huh. Well, that son of a bitch had it coming anyway. What now?"

"We finish the mission. Orders are orders," Soma answered for Tsubaki.

Lindow scratched his head. "Seriously, how old are you? I'm really starting to doubt that you're still just a kid."

"Yes, it truly is quite unbelievable that someone as young as him is even more mature than you," Tsubaki added, a hint of a smirk forming in her lips. Even Soma couldn't help but smile in amusement in spite of their current predicament.

"Heeey. . . Well, I guess you're right."

Lindow shouldered his God Arc and took out a cigarette from his pocket. He used the small fire that had somehow gathered around them to light it. He puffed some smoke before speaking again.

"I think it's high time we showed them the true power of a God Eater."

Soma nodded his approval. He straightened and held his God Arc to his right, eyeing the Aragami closest to them. He searched for an easy target. A lone Ogretail standing a little further away from the rest caught his attention. Without a word, he took off running towards it. As soon as he reached it, he swung his large blade and knocked the Ogretail sideways.

With no chance of defending or evading, the surprised Ogretail caught the attack head-on. It fell down to its side, completely dazed and unable to stand back up from the force of the blow.

Soma held and pointed his dark blade at the fallen but still very much alive Ogretail. Not for long, though, he thought.

However, instead of finishing it with a blow, he remained completely still and concentrated.

Slowly, something started to form and emerge from the base of the blade, starting from the hilt and gradually growing further than the blade itself. It appeared to be something like a large, dark maw with razor sharp fangs, roaring and growling in hunger.

Without any hesitation, he again stimulated his God Arc, and this time the misshapen flesh begun to 'devour' the helpless Aragami.

The large mouth clamped around the Ogretail's body, digging its long fangs into its skin. There was a sound of _munching_ as the Ogretail writhed and cried in pain. Then, slowly, it stopped moving. It had finally died.

Some felt pity for the monster. To experience such an agonizing death would have been anyone's nightmare, even for a monster such as an Aragami.

He pulled back his God Arc when he finally felt it had become somewhat satisfied. He deactivated the God Arc's 'Devouring', and the mouth immediately receded back to where it came from. He then felt its satisfaction flow within him as an indescribable energy coursed through his veins. Power pulsated outwards from within. The heavy blade in his hand suddenly weighed like a feather, and even his entire body felt extremely light. Strength surged into his muscles as if he was suddenly pumped with large doses of adrenaline.

He swung his blade from left to right and back, letting the feeling sink in. It felt like his heavy weapon had become some piece of stick. He made the God Arc go _woosh_ a few times before finally settling it on his shoulder.

He then looked back at his comrades and noticed that Lindow was also already in Burst Mode.

It was finally time to take the battle to a whole new level.

With a grin and a thumbs up, Lindow made the first move, sprinting over the ground like a gazelle.

He slashed at anything in his path. Ogretails, Kongous, Zygotes. . . He swiftly cut through them like they were nothing but weeds of grass in a field. He smirked. It was all just too easy.

The ground suddenly shook underneath his feet. From up ahead, a giant scorpion-like Aragami charged towards him.

He sprung into the air and nimbly dodged the Borg Camlann's shield-like pincers that were aimed at his neck. He landed on its back and immediately sliced at its metallic outer skin, only to cause sparks and a few scratches. "Ugh, damn it. . ."

He then quickly jumped off the Aragami as it tried to attack him with its stinger tail. It turned and chased him around. He continued to dodge its attacks on land, jumping around and causing the tail to only successfully hit the ground he had been last on. If he wasn't on Burst, though, the Borg might have actually gutted him if it were lucky enough. The thought caused a cold shiver go through his spine.

Seeing Soma at his peripheral, he moved to grab the Aragami's full attention. He ran around the other way so that the Borg would do the same.

Then, coming from its back, Soma swiftly slid down the ground below its body and sliced at its legs. Green blood spurted out from the large wounds he dealt.

The Borg cried out in from the considerable pain. It lost its balance and suddenly started to sway sideways.

With its head unguarded, Tsubaki, appearing suddenly in front of it, then fired multiple shots directly towards its mouth. Failing to miss her target, the projectiles went inside, and the Aragami's head blew and burst into pieces while the remaining carcass collapsed unto the ground with a cloud of dust.

"Psh. This is going to take a lot of work," Lindow muttered as he took this short moment of respite to breath. Barely having enough time to even appreciate the result of their teamwork, he immediately sprung back into action.

From behind, he heard the helicopters' rotors sound with constant _thumps_ as the blades slowly spun at first before gradually quickening.

Then, little by little, the small number of aircraft rose from the ground. Inside the choppers, each respective unit hastily prepared and loaded their artillery and heavy guns, and as they slowly rose high into the air, they aimed and fired at any Aragami that tried to come flying at them while the ones that managed to avoid their sights were shot down by Tsubaki.

Tsubaki, completely putting her trust in her comrades to cover her back, focused on her current task. The numerous Oracle Bullets she had fired homed in on groups of Sariels and Zygotes, causing huge explosions in the air. The choppers shook from the strong vibrations but remained otherwise stable. She could hear cheers coming from the soldiers as they continued to slowly rise.

However, that was before lasers came out of nowhere and were shot directly at them. Multiple purple-colored beams flew into the air at random trajectories. Although the projectiles were completely off target, if the barrage continued, they were bound to hit sooner or later. And neither was an option.

"Take those down!" Tsubaki ordered, pointing her finger at the Cocoon Maidens that had suddenly appeared from below the ground.

Soma, who was closest, nodded and immediately went to work. He ran and easily swept through the Cocoon Maidens that had somehow accommodatingly bunched themselves together. He dealt with them in no time, managing to take down two or more with each fell swoop.

Tsubaki was momentarily able to sigh in relief when the helicopters had finally gone beyond the dark clouds and could no longer be seen. At the same time, they had somehow gotten some breathing room. The next wave of Aragami was still quite a far distance away.

"That should be enough, right?" Lindow asked as he placed his God Arc on his shoulder. The power pulsating within him was slowly fading away.

"Yes, that was enough," Tsubaki answered.

"So, kid. I mean, uh, Soma. What do you think of your first mission?"

Lindow only received a grunt in response. He scratched his head. _Right, should have seen that coming_. He took out the last cigarette from his pocket that he had saved just for this moment. After all, the only thing left to do was wait.

"I guess this is it, huh? It should be about time. . ."

And as the words left his mouth, they all looked at the sky just as a large missile whistled out of the clouds. They followed it with curious eyes while it flew through the air, leaving a straight trail of smoke behind it. It then suddenly shifted its direction and flew past their heads before directly hitting the reactor.

First came the blinding light, followed by the extreme heat, then the huge explosion itself.

The God Eaters stood their ground, never wavering. Tsubaki took out her clipboard only to watch the papers burn away instantaneously. Lindow puffed smoke one more time before the cigarette crumbled into ashes from the raging heat. Soma covered his eyes with one hand as he watched the explosion. Under different circumstances, he would've regarded it as a beautiful sight.

What started as an unfledged ball of fire, merely reaching the outskirts of the area, gradually grew larger and larger into a celestial seismic blast. Its blast caused such strong gusts of wind that the snow that were blown away ended up miles from where they had come from. The explosion was so enormous, it managed to become visible from outer space and distant parts of the world.

What happened next, though, was completely unexpected.

From the ground burst forth dozens of large and thick dark tentacles, rising higher and further than the reaches of the explosion. They then encircled the blast completely, containing and compressing it into the ground. It slowly shrunk in size, eventually enveloping on itself and disappearing into complete nothingness. It left behind what was surely a huge distortion to the surrounding area.

There was a sudden vacuum of air, and the void sucked back everything into it like a deadly riptide. Devastating winds came from all directions, converging into its center, the rush destroying everything in the immediate area.

Then everything became calm again, as if nothing ever happened. Except that, where the reactor once stood, there was now a large crater completely filled with rubble, the only proof it ever existing.

The Aragami in the area were entirely wiped out, their corpses littering the ground everywhere a good enough indication. However, lumped together with the remains of the monsters were the dismembered bodies of the soldiers. At an extremely steep price, the operation was a success.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>It was already way past sunrise when the pickup for the Far East's unit arrived. The sky was absolutely clear, an amazingly bright blue one, so full of life, as it was like any other day. It was a deceitful illusion, though. Contrary to the sky, the planet was full of death. The planet itself was dying.<p>

There was no life in this world. Only death.

"Ugh!" With all his remaining strength, Lindow pushed off the huge rubble that had buried him underground. He moaned in pain as he tried to pull himself upwards. He stretched a muscle from the force, and he groaned in pain."Shit. That was cutting it pretty close."

He covered his eyes from the sudden onslaught of sunlight. Then a shadow appeared before him. "Never mind that. We accomplished the mission, and we're alive. That's all that matters."

"Jeez. You're always mission this, mission that. Give me a break, will ya? Slave driver," Lindow grunted at his sister. Tsubaki crossed her arms over her chest, her two large, round tissues settling above them. She glared at him with vicious eyes, shooting daggers, and Lindow could only mumble a response. "...Yes, ma'am."

Soma, who was standing a little ways away from the Amamiya siblings, knelt down over a dead soldier. The man still had his eyes wide open as if the last thing that had overcome him before dying was complete and utter disbelief. Soma reached his hand out and closed the man's eyelids, praying that he found the peace he was looking for. Then he closed his own eyes. An emotion that would pass as pain filled his heart.

This was the price of this war—this war between humans and the Aragami.

Death.

Yet, it was the only way to ever see the end of this war. It was the tragic irony that had befallen mankind.

And if this operation was humanity's last stand against this sad reality, then there was but one hope left.

The God Eaters.


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**.-.**

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em>From the ashes of the past, the future begins.<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Part I: Inceptum Finis<strong>_

* * *

><p><em>The moon is soaked in sadness<br>__It quietly paints the land, then disappears_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 1: Arrival<strong>_

* * *

><p><span><strong>2071 A.D.<strong>

**Far East (Former Oriental Asia)**

* * *

><p>"Soma. Hey, Soma!"<p>

His eyes slowly opened, appearing to lazily wake up from a long, dreamless sleep. Annoyed, he immediately glowered at his companion sitting on the other side of the helicopter's cabin. The hood of his jacket that he preferred to always have over his head fluttered from a slight brush of wind.

He growled, "_What_?"

Tatsumi ignored his tone. After all, Soma was… well, Soma. He was used to it, sort of.

"We're almost there. And you shouldn't sit there. You might fall off, you know."

Soma, who was leaning next to the slightly ajar door, shot daggers at the other God Eater from where he sat on the floor. Nonetheless, he pushed aside his pride and settled in a more secure position. There was no point in tempting fate.

Also ignoring Soma's annoyed expression, Tatsumi continued. "Anyway, did you hear? Hibari told me we're getting new recruits later." At the sudden mention of her name, his eyes immediately appeared to glaze over. "Ah, my dear Hibari. We'll finally see each other again after such a long time."

"What are you talking about? We've been gone roughly six hours." Soma sat straight and brushed his hair that tickled the tip of his nose. He offhandedly wondered if he should have it cut. It had grown a little longer than usual. Then again, he didn't want the lady-barber making another fuss about losing such 'silvery hair that shines like the moon when it's full'.

With a yearning look on his face, Tatsumi merely sighed, looking absolutely lovelorn. "Those six hours felt like six long years. Besides, six hours is still a pretty long time." Eyes closed, he encircled his arms around nothing, appearing to hug and press his face on what Soma could only assume was Tatsumi's mental picture of their _unfortunately_ beloved Operator.

The other occupants of the long and mostly vacant cabin seemed to ignore their conversation. If they couldn't hear them, or just simply didn't care, Soma wasn't sure. Either way, it was embarrassing.

"Oh, Hibari, my Hibari. Have you missed me so?"

Soma rolled his eyes and shut out Tatsumi's musings. He turned to the door and slid it open, letting sunlight stream into the helicopter's dark interior.

He looked out at the wide desolate land that the chopper was flying over. What was once a large field of greenery was now nothing but a complete wasteland that reached as far as the eyes could see. The vast wilderness was filled with jagged shards of earth that rose towards the sky. Cracks crept across the parched ground, and dry air breezed over the sand-covered land. There was no sign of life in sight.

The place was completely dead.

And it was the same everywhere else in the world. Towering cities leveled to the ground. Monuments unrecognizable after years of corrosion. Anything man-made completely razed into nonexistence. Worse, nature had turned its back on itself. Rains were rare. Beds of water had dried up. Drought continuously doused the earth. Foliage consistently withered. Herbivores were now at the brink of extinction. And soon, whatever it were that managed to survive would surely follow.

The planet itself was dying.

A slight gust of wind struck the helicopter, rocking it.

Soma put one arm around the God Arc that he had set beside him and pulled it closer to his body as if it was his lifeline, which, in fact, it was.

This was now the Earth they were living in. It was a cruel place for mankind—a world that no longer wanted their existence, a world that didn't permit their kind of lifestyle. Yet, somehow, humans still pressed on and continued to live in this godforsaken planet.

After all, to live—it was what anyone would want, no matter how young or how old they were. And when push came to shove, they became willing to pay any price. Even at the cost of other people's lives.

But this Earth had gone tired of such ways. No more was it gracious to the humans living on it.

In the 2050's, during a period of height and splendor, as if to evict humanity out of this world, Oracle Cells suddenly came into existence. They appeared completely out of nowhere, out of nothingness, starting small but nevertheless steadily growing in number, devouring everything else on the planet. This eventually led to the birth of the 'Aragami', beings that took various life-forms and were now humankind's greatest enemy.

Throughout history, men and women alike ruled over everything and did whatever they wanted as masters of this world. But the fact that, in this era, mankind was facing its extinction because of these unnatural beasts meant only one thing—that these Aragami had risen to become the dominant species.

Perhaps their wills to live were the same. Perhaps their feelings of not wanting to die were the same. But the culmination of those desires was the struggle for survival. It invoked the war between the humans and the Aragami. And the planet, in spite of itself, seemed to remain as an spectator and a judge, setting only one rule: the weak were devoured by the strong.

Soma curled his left hand around the handle of his large blade. It was the only kind of weapon that was able to subdue the Aragami, a weapon called a 'God Arc'. No one knew how it came to be, but it had unofficially become a part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, an actual _basic_ need to survive.

However, with a limited number of supply, the God Arcs were also only limited to a number of people, chosen wielders called 'God Eaters'.

And they had now become the appointed saviors of humanity.

* * *

><p>Fenrir could be seen in every corner of the world. The existence of this organization was as natural as breathing air. Numerous branches were spread across the planet in their myriad forms. From the standard forms that provided everything necessary for human survival to the more advanced structures of Arcology that specialized in more specific areas.<p>

One such branch was the Far East Branch. Located at the region that was formerly known as 'Japan', its range of operations extended to as far as the borders of what was once called the 'People's Republic of China'.

The branch was presently being run by one Director Johannes von Schicksal, one of the founding members of Fenrir itself and a leading expert on Aragami research.

Wearing his usual crisp, white long coat over a dark business suit, with a black scarf wrapped around his neck, the Director leaned forward on his large desk and clamped his hands together. Flowing blond hair reached his neck, framing the contours of his head. A thoughtful look was painted on his face as he looked at his laptop's screen with a pair of brown eyes.

"So, this is a New-type, huh._" _He carefully read the profile of the new God Eater candidate.

_For them to send here the very first one. And at such a crucial time... No, I'm simply over thinking things again._

He reached out a finger and pressed the button on his speakerphone. "Hibari, contact the new recruit and get him down to the Evaluation Room to take the Aptitude Test."

The phone sounded with a _beep_, and a voice answered, "Yes, sir."

He reclined in his seat and looked at the ceiling. He had a contemplative demeanor that radiated a pensive atmosphere around him. He wasn't so sure himself what he was feeling melancholic for. Maybe_—_just maybe_—_it was because this feeling of apprehension reminded him of his late lover.

A ghost of a poignant smile was on his lips before he finally stood up. "Now then. Let's see what they've had in store for me."

* * *

><p>The young boy sat comfortably on the steel bench, idly swinging his feet up and down like a young kid. He did, however, feel like a kid at that particular moment—a kid who was just given his favorite toy: a ginormous deadly weapon.<p>

He gazed at his right arm for the umpteenth time. Right around his wrist was a huge armlet that was now permanently bound to him. Although the pain he had to go through just to get it was almost unbearable, the joy that filled his heart after was enough to easily quench the aching throb he felt. It was proof that finally—_finally!—_he was a God Eater.

Fellow God Eaters passed him. They took notice and pointed, muttering, "Hey, look. It's the rookie."

He puffed his chest out proudly and thought to himself, _That's right! I'm THE rookie!_

He basked in what he assumed was their praises. And to cherish the moment, he took a gum out of his pocket and put it in his awaiting mouth. Thrilled and just completely happy, he started humming the theme song of his favorite TV show, Bugarally.

"Hm, hm, hm, with this hand..."

"Mr. Fujiki."

"Oh, _oh_, I won't lose my way..."

"Mr. Fujiki!"

"Whoa, oh, I can't hear you, baaabyyy..."

Hibari sighed and ran a hand down her face. She shifted her gaze to the person standing next to her at the counter. "Uhm..."

"Don't worry. I'll take it from here."

Hibari nodded her head and conveyed her thanks to her superior.

The tightly dressed woman slowly strode towards the clueless boy, her white leather ensemble hugging every curve of her body. She stopped right in front of him and clicked her stilettos on the steel floor, speaking with an imposing voice. "Stand up."

"Huh?"

Kota, suffice to say, was nonplussed. Like any other teenage boy would have done, he started his gaze from below the waist and slowly moved upwards, stopping just right below her neckline where two large tissues were, to Kota's astonishment, slightly revealed. He gulped and accidentally swallowed his gum.

The woman's white top seemed to have failed to accomplish its purpose, baring her navel and displaying her huge cleavage in all their glory. Then again, that might have been its actual purpose in the first place.

"I said, 'Stand up!' On your feet! Now!" the woman ordered/commanded/demanded or whatever else it was that floated her boat.

Finally getting the message, Kota immediately stood up and, at long last, was able to get a good look of her face after ogling other certain body parts. Her raven hair was curled to one side and laid softly right past her shoulder. She looked at him with brown feline-like slits as she held a clipboard with her left hand and placed the other on her waist.

"Why are you alone?"

"Uhm, was I supposed to bring with me my mom?"

"I was talking about the other boy."

Kota blinked. "Uh, I don't have a brother."

Tsubaki resisted the urge to place a palm on her forehead. It would seem unprofessional, after all.

"The other _recruit_," she amended. Kota simply continued to stare at her dumbly with equally stupid blinking brown eyes. She sighed hopelessly. Talking to this kid reminded her of one particular adult that acted seemingly as stupid.

"Never mind. I'm Tsubaki Amamiya, and from now on, I'll be your adviser. At 1300 hours, you are to report to Dr. Sakaki at his lab for your medical checkup. Until then, you are free to tour the facilities. This is now your new home, the Fenrir Far East Branch, also known as the 'Den'. Do you have any questions?"

"Uhm..."

"Right. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to approach the Operator at the front desk, Hibari. Now, I will only say this once, so listen carefully. If you do not wish to die over something stupid, you will answer my every order with a 'yes'. Understood?" Kota nodded his head, but that didn't seem to satisfy her. "Answer me!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"Good. Now, get on with it. And make sure you pay your respects to your seniors."

Tsubaki left just as quickly as she spoke. Kota was barely able to register in any of her words, and him staring at her butt as she walked away wasn't helping. _At all_. Although two words did stand out. One was 'die', which made the hair on his back stand up, and the other was 'other recruit'.

_Wait... _Kota paused and recounted. _Those were actually three words!_

And he wasn't _that_ stupid to not understand the meaning behind those words. So, he had another double-scoop of excitement as he realized that he was going to have a fellow rookie. An ally of justice. A partner in crime. A homeboy. A gossip-mate...

The exhilaration continued to build inside of him. He wondered what kind of person he was. What he looked like. What kind of hobbies he had. If he liked Bugarally. The thought of having a fellow Bugarally fan excited him even more.

His thoughts continued to wander about. He speculated on what type of girl he was into. Maybe the cool-sophisticated type. Or maybe the girly-princess type. Or the cute-innocent type. Or the spunky-hottie type...

_Wait... What if he's into boys? M-me... and h-him... n-n-naked..._

_"Oh, Kotaaa..."  
><em>

_NOOO!_ Kota held unto his head and shook it incessantly, trying to get the picture of him and the faceless young man out. It was too disturbing for his pure and innocent mind. But, despite that, the childish grin was still plastered on his face.

He had not felt this excited since his younger sister was born. And to make sure that he was going to make an impressive first impression, he was going to give him a gum!

He patted his pocket and froze. _I'm out of gum!_ He had just swallowed the last one!

He grabbed his rusty-brown haired head and pulled at his beanie. "Oh, man..."

The passing God Eaters glanced at him and stepped away cautiously, branding him a weird lunatic.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>"We're here!"<p>

"I know. I'm not blind," Soma answered unequivocally.

The pair of Chinooks, big Fenrir logos painted on their sides, slowly descended as they neared the large settlement surrounded by a vast expanse of dry earth and sandy deserts. A tall and thick alloy wall encircled the whole area known as the Outer Ghetto, the residential district of those who took refuge near Fenrir's Far East Branch. It was mostly occupied by residential houses and buildings, with a few notable recreational facilities.

At the dead center of the settlement was a large building. However, like the tip of an iceberg, the rest of it led underground to the Complete Environmental City of the Den.

The choppers carefully landed on the wide space atop the building. As its blades slowly and gradually spun to a complete stop, the doors slid open for the passengers to alight. Soma stepped out first, followed by Tatsumi and then the rest of the members of the units that were sent on the special mission.

His God Arc placed on his shoulder, Soma stared at the ground as he briskly walked towards the entrance of the Den Gate at the far corner, which he was capable of reaching with eyes closed as if he had it memorized. Well, as a matter of fact, throughout the years, he had.

He wasn't exactly thinking of anything when he was suddenly tapped lightly on the shoulder. Still, he was annoyed that his train of thought was disrupted. He looked at the owner of the hand. "What?"

"What's that?" Tatsumi asked, pointing towards the row of choppers.

"_What_?" Soma grumbled, looking at the direction the other God Eater was pointing at but finding nothing special.

"That!" Tatsumi insisted.

It took a few moments, but Soma finally noticed the out-of-place color of white to the army-green of the rest of the aircraft. He had never seen that particular helicopter before, but it had the same red Fenrir logo sticker-ed on it. This sparked Soma's interest even if just for a bit.

"Hey, look!" Tatsumi pointed again, but this time towards the entrance of the Den Gate.

Soma shifted his gaze, only catching a glimpse of a young boy with raven-black hair as the grating slid close. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Do you think it's the new recruit?" Tatsumi asked curiously.

"Don't care," lied Soma.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to the Far East Branch. I'm Director Johannes von Schicksal, the current head of this Fenrir chapter."<p>

Johan thoroughly scrutinized the young boy. He didn't see any notable qualities about him, yet he was supposed to be the first-ever New-type. He was slim, but seemed fit enough. Not tall, but not short either. And like his height, overall, he seemed just average. But his stats spoke otherwise.

"I've heard a great deal about you..."

"Adon. Adon Lonwolfe," the young man answered when prompted, his red carnelian eyes gleaming behind dark fringes.


	3. Chapter 2: Firsts

**.-.**

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em>In a time of no one to pray to, who do the people turn to?<em>

_- City of Mercy_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 2: Firsts<strong>_

* * *

><p>The earth cried out as it shook vehemently beneath their feet. It was as if the planet that gave birth to them was urging them.<p>

_Hurry and devour—! What can keep you alive is over there. Devour, devour, devour, and become strong, strong, strong—!_

The monsters roared and answered the enticing call, stumping on the ground as they quickly made their way to where they were being sweetly invited by the scent of an unfortunate prey.

Driven by their instinct to devour, the Aragami voraciously consumed anything that was palatable to their system, whether it was a living being or a non-living thing. They held nothing back and felt no qualms even if it was one of their very own. Humans called it Cannibalism. But to the Aragami, it was the most basic of their processes: Devouring.

It was the simplest necessity for their survival.

And inclined to do the same were the three Ogretails that were already feasting on the remains of one of their own.

The sound of flesh being guzzled resounded throughout the ruined city as if the dead church's bell was reverberating with a _munch, munch, munch_.

The composition of the fallen Aragami deteriorated while the predators tore through its undecomposed tissues, its tattered red cape unsuccessfully covering what was left of its ravaged carcass. After a long torturous while, the ground finally started to swallow the Aragami, its organs and cells liquifying and melting into where they originally came from, for the slain Vajra's core was already extracted minutes earlier.

* * *

><p>"Jeez. When has killing these things gotten so hard?" Lindow complained, standing next to the unmoving body of a Vajra.<p>

"Mmm. Now that you've mentioned it, I guess you're right. It's like the Aragami have somehow gotten stronger all of a sudden. Smarter even, and more sophisticated," his female companion replied while she swept her gaze over the barren landscape that was devoid of any other life-form.

Parts of the city had been completely gouged away. The buildings were unquestionably dead, just as the whole city itself was. Clouds of dust formed wherever there was a strong gust of wind, as if the dead were still howling.

Sakuya brushed her hair aside and tucked a few strands behind her ear as she studied a particular mountain of debris that had formed. It was a large pile of concrete, mostly comprised of rubble that had fallen from the numerous wounds carved into the tall structures. And beside it was a hill of rubble from which columns of smoke were still rising.

It was only a matter of time before the Ogretails started moving again, she thought to herself. They had better leave as soon as possible.

The long tail of her dress swayed as she turned around and looked back at her companion. She watched the misshapen black mouth of fangs that bit into the fallen Aragami's body melt back into his God Arc.

"Hey, Sakuya! Look! It's a rare one!"

She strode towards Lindow, the long barrel of her God Arc resting on her shoulder. She smiled at the smirk that formed on his lips. It reminded her of a child winning a prize. "To the victor go the spoils, as they say."

"I bet Old Man Sakaki will have a fit over this."

She chuckled and shook her head knowingly. Placing the hand not holding on to her God Arc on her hip, she told him, "Now, if only they'd send us more God Eaters."

"Oh, haven't you heard? We're supposed to get two new recruits today." Lindow grinned at her surprised expression. "And get this. One's a New-type."

If at all possible, her eyes widened even more at the new revelation. "New-type? But I thought those were just rumors!"

Lindow shrugged. "Apparently not. I guess it just took them a while to find a match."

Sakuya had a thoughtful look on her face when the small rubble a few feet away from the pair suddenly shook slightly. "We should probably get going. I won't be able to handle any more of them. I'm about to run out of Oracle Bullets."

Lindow looked towards the horizon where the sun was starting to set and nodded in agreement. He placed his God Arc on his shoulder and made a move to leave, grabbing his communicator out of his pocket and calling for transport.

"Then let's head back. Besides, I'm already starving," he told her after pocketing back the communicator.

She rolled her eyes, but a small smile graced her lips nonetheless. She was in fact pretty hungry herself. Not that she was going to tell him that. She wouldn't want him taking notice of her weight, now would she? After all, she...

"I wonder what kind of rations they're serving today."

"Actually, that came up during the last food supply meeting..." Lindow trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration as he tried to recall what was discussed in the meeting. He grinned as the imaginary light bulb lit over his head. "I got it! We're having corn!"

"Whaaat? You mean that giant corn-on-the-cob? _Again_?" Sakuya complained. "But that's so hard to chew!"

For a grown woman, she sure whined like a bratty kid, Lindow thought to himself with a smirk. He bet if she could have crossed her arms, she would have done so already. Instead, she appeared to settle on pouting. He chuckled at her childishness. Honestly, he found it quite cute. But he wasn't about to just tell her that.

"Hey, times are hard. You should be glad you're getting fed at all."

Sakuya sighed and yielded, pacing her steps a little faster to catch up to her fellow God Eater, leaving behind them the city that was at the mercy of the Aragami.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>The young rookie stood in front of the elevator, the grating sliding to a close behind him. He was finally back on the wide steel-floored lobby. To his right were dozens of Terminals for public use, a few presently being operated by fellow God Eaters, and to his left was the long staircase leading down to the lower level of the Lobby.<p>

Wearing matching dark clothes: a zippered sleeveless shirt and a pair of loose pants, he proceeded to scan the crowd with his reddish-brown eyes.

God Eaters wandered everywhere in pairs and groups, rapidly talking to each other about trivial matters. All of them seemed to be acquainted to at least one other person already.

He sighed. It sure was hard being the new guy, he thought to himself. He had no idea what to do. Or where to go.

But he had sworn to change his personality. After all, this was an opportunity for him to start anew.

And so, he steeled himself and decided to approach a few of the passing God Eaters to ask where he was supposed to go, even though they somewhat radiated an extremely unapproachable air about them. At least, it felt that way to him, despite that they were actually all very warm and welcoming when he introduced himself.

However, before the question could even leave his lips, he had ended up biting his tongue instead. More than a couple of times, to his embarrassment. He mumbled a quick apology to the unfortunate witnesses and scurried away.

Well, it could have been worse, he told himself. _You could have thrown up on them..._

_..._

...Right, so much for encouraging himself.

_What is wrong with me?_

Sighing, he waited a few more moments before trying again.

But, each time, the same thing simply ended up happening all over again.

And after a few more tries, to no avail, he finally gave up.

The boy scratched the back of his neck. He wasn't exactly shy, and he most definitely was not xenophobic. He was just still not used to other people and, for some reason, felt extremely intimidated by them.

However, it seemed there was no need for him to make a move to begin with. Apparently, someone had been watching him the entire time.

She had been observing him with interest, simply waiting for an opening. And as soon as she saw him move next to the wall, seeming to wrack his brain on what to do next, she immediately made her move. Enroute towards him, the boy looked up and blinked as he noticed her approach. She smiled and waved at him, immediately initiating the conversation.

"You're the rookie, aren't you?" the gray-haired girl asked him. A pair of red blowtorching goggles was placed on her head. Why she had them on, he could only guess. It took him a moment to realize that she was in fact talking to him.

He appeared to slowly shrink away from her like a frightened puppy. At this, her interest peaked up a little more.

"Yes," he hesitantly replied. What did she want with him?

The girl sighed in relief. "Tsubaki's been having a fit looking for you. She's pretty scary, you know, so I'd hurry if I were you."

He gulped. He wished she omitted the word 'scary' so that it would have come out as 'She's pretty, so I'd hurry if I were you'. He then inquired, "Where can I find her?"

"I think she's still in the lower lobby. Tsubaki's the woman in white." He nodded and thanked the girl. He was about to walk away when she curiously asked, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Uhm, it's Adon," he answered reluctantly, unsure if it was the right decision to tell her.

"Adon, huh." She smiled as his name rolled out of her tongue. She rubbed her right gloved-hand on her greasy gray tank-top before reaching it out for him to take. "I'm Licca. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." He hesitantly reached for it and shook hands with her. He silently took note of how the glove failed to dampen the warmth of her hand. It was a bit sticky with oil, though.

"Well, you better get going if you don't want to get into any more trouble. When you get some free time, let's have lunch together! Now, shoo!" She waved her hands at him, gesturing for him to get going.

"Uh, sure." Adon stepped away, slightly surprised by her sudden invitation. He glanced back at her once and noticed her still looking at him, a smile on her lips. He quickened his pace and hastily moved down the stairs.

Thanks to Licca's directions, he was finally able to find his adviser. And to say the least, 'scary' was a huge understatement.

Tsubaki might just have been the hottest and most curvacious woman he had ever seen. But he was too terrified of her to even feel slightly attracted to her heaven-sculpted body. She screamed at his face for the entirety of five minutes, and all he could do was cringe.

Finally, she told him, "Get on with it! You're going to be late for your checkup that is at 1500 hours!"

He swallowed and meekly nodded, scampering away as fast he could.

Why were women so complicated? They were so hard to figure out. So unpredictable and terribly confusing. Not to mention absolutely terrifying. Compared to men, it was like they were a completely different species. Not that he was one to talk. After all, in the entirety of the sixteen years he had been alive, he had only been in conversations with a total of a dozen women, the previous two already included.

It was not that he had a fear of them. He just grew up in environments that were scarcely inhabited by females, and he didn't exactly have 'training' on how to approach and deal with them. But then again, they scared him so much that he just might actually have gynophobia.

Still slightly shaken, Adon moved back up the stairs to the upper lobby. And as if the planet was goading him, the floor was now filled entirely with people of the opposite sex.

He narrowed his eyes at the ground. _You hate me, don't you?_

Without even telling him where he was supposed to get his checkup, Tsubaki had sent him scurrying away. He had been about to ask the kind operator that had called him earlier when Tsubaki screamed at him again, "What are you still doing here!"

Now, he had to settle for asking one of these girls. Why did it have to be only girls? Why couldn't his instructor be a carefree male? Or the operator be an untalkative boy?

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _You can do this._ _You can do this. You can—_

His mantra was interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder. He peered his eyes open only to be greeted by two large blue orbs boring into his. He took a step back in surprise.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked. She slightly leaned to her right, inclining her head while watching him worriedly. Her green dress swayed along with her body.

"Uh, yeah, I think so." His internal alarm screamed at him to run away. But, despite its insistence, he ignored it completely. He had vowed to change, after all. And maybe his luck was about to change. Like what people had always said, third time's the charm. _Right? _he asked, quite unsure himself.

"That's good! For a second there, I thought you were having a migraine!" The girl smiled at him, clapping her hands together in delight. Her banded pink hair framed her face beautifully and her eyes glowed with excitement. "Oh, you're the rookie, aren't you?"

Adon simply nodded, cautious of her. He still wasn't sure exactly what 'type' of girl she was. She had the looks of what people would call a pretty girl, and, despite her small frame, she had a well-proportioned body. She also radiated such an alluring atmosphere that it would have been easy to misunderstand her intentions. He could feel a friendly positivity emanating from her.

Still, the young man knew it was best to tread carefully in uncharted waters.

"So, are you used to the Den yet? To tell you the truth, I myself am still not used to it. I keep getting lost, you know, and it's been quite a while already! My instructor's always yelling at me, saying I'm stuck in rookie mode."

The smile on her face remained as she kept on babbling about things he wasn't really interested in knowing. But she looked nice and seemed approachable enough, although a bit talkative for his tastes.

He continued to nod while she talked and talked, though he _really _needed to get going already. He couldn't do anything though, as the girl's mouth was still opening and closing. _And what's with the swaying_, he thought to himself.

Somewhere in his heart, he feared that smiling face and what might happen if he were to continue talking with her. There was just something... off.

As politely as he could, he tried to quickly excuse himself out of the conversation. But he bit his tongue once again. Of all times, now. His voice came out muffled, the words very much incoherent even to his own ears.

"Hmu, 'xcsemeh."

Alarmed, the girl's eyes suddenly widened into big blue saucers. "Oh, no!"

Before he could ask what was wrong, he was dragged away and into the elevator as fast as he could inquire, "Huh?"

He was right. This was a girl to fear.

* * *

><p>"Hmm... You got here 726 seconds later than I expected," the male with the pair of clear glasses covering what seemed to be a pair of always closed eyes spoke. He fixed his glasses as he looked at Adon inquisitively. "He <em>is<em> a New-type, right?"

Johannes, who was standing to the side of the large desk, remained silent for a moment before finally asking, "Did something hold you up?"

The young rookie bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry. Something... unexpected took place on my way here."

"Could you shed some light on the matter?" Johan inquired curiously.

Adon's mouth twitched slightly as did his right eye. "It's nothing worth mentioning."

He couldn't possibly tell them that, after taking the Aptitude Test, he got lost searching for his room. Then he got lost again looking for Tsubaki. And after that, there was a huge farce concerning one overly confused Kanon who thought he was suffering from a severe case of brain edema.

Thankfully, Dr. Sakaki's Lab was right down the hallway from the Sick Bay, so there was no way he was still going to get lost.

"Is that so," the other man, most likely the Doctor Sakaki he had been told about, said. "Well, what matters is you're here now."

Adon sighed, glad that they didn't press on the matter.

"I'm Paylor Sakaki, and I'm in charge of Aragami Technology Research and Development," the man introduced himself. He suddenly started typing away rapidly on his computer, although his eyes never left the rookie. It surprised Adon how he managed to accomplish such a feat without even looking at any of the several monitor screens stacked up one another. The Doctor smiled warmly at him. "We'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on, so welcome aboard, New-type."

Adon straightened and nodded from where he was standing in front of the two. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Now then... As you can see, I'm also a little bit late with my preparations. Just like you, I was... held up." Paylor continued to type, his gaze settling on the Director accusingly. "Johan, why don't you get your business out of the way first?"

Johannes frowned disapprovingly at his tone of voice and reproached him. "Paylor, I think it's high time you learned how to separate business from private matters."

"But that is your area of expertise, _Director_."

Seeing the result of his futile attempt in rebuking the Doctor, Johannes turned his attention back to Adon. He put on his business smile while he spoke. "I wish to express my sincere gratitude to you once again for taking the Aptitude Test and congratulate you on passing. I expect great things from you, Adon."

"I'll do my best not to disappoint."

Johan's eyes twinkled. "Good, good. Well then. Let me just explain to you our objectives once more. Your direct duties are very simple. They are to keep the Aragami in this region at bay and to gather materials, which are then converted into resources needed for the maintenance of this base, as well as for the completion of the impending 'Aegis Project'."

Adon nodded in acknowledgment. But before the Director could continue, Paylor spoke rather loudly to himself. "Wow. Look at these numbers!"

Annoyed, Johan cleared his throat before carrying on with his explanation. "The 'Aegis Project' is, simply put, a plan to create a utopia impregnable against Aragami attacks. It is located far out at sea, close to the former Sea of Japan trench."

"This is truly quite unbelievable," Paylor interrupted once again.

Adon worriedly shifted his gaze from the Director to the Doctor then back. He was surprised when Johannes merely proceeded despite Doctor Sakaki's constant intrusions. He had been quite sure that the Director had run out of patience.

"We are hopeful that, once the project is complete, humankind will be able to avoid extinction. Even if at least for a while."

"Amazing! So this is what a New-type is like!" The Doctor finally stopped typing and eyed several of his monitor screens eagerly.

Johan closed his eyes for a moment before turning to the cause of all these inconveniences, unable to take any more of the indiscreet outbursts. He spoke carefully to avoid growling in impatience. "Paylor... you're disrupting my lecture."

The sheepish doctor chuckled lightly and nodded apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that. I guess I got a bit carried away. These stats... They are just completely mind-blowing! No wonder you were so interested in his data." He moved his gaze towards Adon and explained, "He was a former techie, too, you know."

"I decided to retire as a techie because we have _you_, Paylor. Please keep that in mind," Johannes replied, his words carefully foreshadowing an implicit threat.

But Paylor was either _really _stupid, or just plain brave. "Did you ever really retire though?"

The Director decided to ignore him as he turned his attention back to Adon, once again putting on his fake smile. "At any rate, the fate of humanity is at stake, so please give it your best effort."

"Yes, sir," he answered politely, nodding his head.

Johannes raised a curious eyebrow, but was inwardly appeased with his behavior. "Very well then. I'll be taking my leave here. I'll leave the rest to you, Paylor. Send me the data when you're done."

Paylor waved a hand in the air while his other hand kept keying on the computer. The Director walked past Adon and out the door, leaving the other two completely alone.

Silence.

The quiescence inside the room, save for the sound of keys being pressed, was nerve-wracking for Adon, not to mention the muteness of the Doctor was agitating his nerves. With Paylor's very random and quite unpredictable personality, he wasn't quite sure if he was supposed to be alone in a room with the odd doctor, much less let him examine his body.

According to Kanon, Doctor Sakaki was 'a little eccentric' but still a 'very kind man'.

He didn't feel very assured, though. Firstly, because it was a huge klutz that told him those things. And secondly, the words 'eccentric' and 'kind', when put together, didn't really bode well. And mix in a 'very' and a 'little' somewhere in between? It was a complete recipe for disaster. According to his book anyway.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when the noiselessness invaded his ears.

Paylor finally stopped typing and settled his palms on the large keyboard, his gaze falling on the rookie and eyes gleaming with unadulterated interest. "Okay. We're good to go now. If you would please lie down on the bed inside that room," he instructed in a professional voice, pointing to his right.

It was only then that Adon noticed the now-open metallic red door. He gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing as he replied. "Okay." He nervously forced a grin, but it was cracking because of his face's abnormal twitching.

Paylor watched him peculiarly as he walked and entered the room.

The first thing that reached him was the smell. The room stunk of disinfectant and medicine, but he ignored it and surveyed the room. It was completely painted snow-white. A few medical equipment and machinery were placed in meticulous areas, and a large white bed, with matching sheets, was placed at the side of the room. He approached the bed and carefully skimmed his palm over the surface.

Then he thought to himself that maybe there wasn't anything to worry about after all. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary anyway.

He thought too soon, however.

He was startled when the room's door closed heavily with a _slam_. That was when he started to panic. _I knew it. I knew it! Shit!  
><em>

In real life, Adon was a well-mannered, silent person. But in the world of his mind, he let loose all his frustrations as profanity. _That crazy son of a—_

A deafening, buzzing noise put a stop to his mindless ranting. He closed his ears with his hands, but his eardrums continued to vibrate nonetheless. Then a stereo voice echoed inside the room. It seemed to come from the speaker hanging on the far corner of the room. He eyed it indignantly.

"Please lie down on the bed," came the annoying doctor's cheery voice. "You'll feel sleepy for a little while. But I assure you, there's nothing to worry about."

Adon narrowed his eyes suspiciously._ Oh, sure. I bet that's what you also told the last person here before you killed him in his sleep. When I get out of here, that's also what I'll tell you before I slice off your insane head! _But he complied nonetheless. He lied down on the bed stiffly, glaring at the white ceiling.

"Just relax. By the time you wake up, you'll be back in your own room. Just a little catnap, so to speak..."

He was still rigid with fury, but for some reason, the voice suddenly felt soothing as it told him, "Sweet dreams!"

Then the ceiling started spinning in a pool of white swirl before his eyes. And in no time, he was swallowed in the world of darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>The first feeling he had after waking up was extreme disgruntlement.<p>

He didn't know why. He just did.

Maybe it was due to the indecipherable images that were still flashing in his mind. Or maybe it was the physical discomfort he was feeling.

"Ugh!" Adon curled up into a sitting position from where his body was spread out on the wooden floor and groaned. His back felt very stiff. "Damn it... They better not have dropped me here."

That wasn't probably the case since the bed next to him appeared extremely untidy. He obviously fell.

He pulled himself up with the help of the long table and stretched his arms out as he stood up. A few bones cracked, and he cringed slightly, a displeased look on his face. He must have been laying on the floor for a couple of hours now.

"What time is it anyway..."

He had not set up a clock yet, so he went and opened the Terminal to check for the time. He sighed dejectedly as the Terminal flashed the current time as '1813'. He was late for rations distribution. If his memory served him right, he was told by Tsubaki in between screams that the distribution was at 1800 hours.

"_There are no particular rules as to who and how many are given. The schedules were implemented simply for civil order_," Tsubaki explained to him before yelling at him again to make sure not to be late.

Adon groaned. "Great... If she finds out I'm late, I'm going to get a good screaming again."

And so, he quickly washed and rinsed his face, fixing his disheveled and messy hair in the process. He smoothed his clothes and looked himself over in the mirror, making sure he was publicly presentable. In no time, he was out the door and in front of the elevator, rapidly pressing the button for 'UP'.

He was probably going to get the worst of the portions. The best he could hope for now was mystery meat. But based on his current streak of bad luck, he was most likely going to get the special glob of brown muck.

Of course, he had not yet realized that God Eaters received special privileges and treatments for risking their lives daily. Thus, they were given equal portions of more than sufficient rations.

There was a _ding _when the elevator finally trundled to a stop on the Rookies' Section. He quickly jumped in as soon as the grating opened. He pressed the button for the Entrance Lobby and tapped his foot on the steel floor impatiently.

_They should install some elevator tunes_, he thought offhandedly as he waited.

The elevator finally dinged and opened at the Lobby. It was mostly vacant now compared to earlier. He figured that most were probably already at the mess hall, partaking of their rations for the day.

He quickly ran towards the Den Gate, surprising a pair of God Eaters, and pressed the button for 'DOWN' this time.

Why they had separate elevators for different areas, he didn't know. Maybe it was simply an on-the-spur-of-the-moment decision to make things as complicated as possible. Or maybe they just felt like building the structure like an underground labyrinth.

But, after having wandered around while getting lost earlier, he had already come to understand that the Den Gate led to most of the facilities and the Section Elevator was for the offices and living quarters.

The Den Gate dinged and slid open. He was about to jump in when a group of God Eaters suddenly rushed out and brushed past him, God Arcs held in their hands. They ran across the lobby and down the stairs to the lower level.

Adon paused and watched them curiously. He then shook his head after a few moments and shrugged his worry off since it didn't concern him anyway, quickly slipping his body into the elevator right before it closed.

Finally, he was able to arrive at the mess hall. As the elevator opened, the noise immediately attacked his ears.

The room was filled with bustling people of different ethnic groups, ages, and genders. Though, of course, there were only two genders to choose from. Despite that a lot of things in this world had practically become unnatural, a third gender still hadn't come into existence. At least, none that humans know of.

The thought alone creeped Adon out.

Wait. Why was he even thinking about this anyway?

Looking around the cafeteria, he noted that most of the tables were already occupied, mainly in pairs and groups. But there were still a few that did sit alone on their own, seemingly preferring the sequestered areas at the far corners of the mess hall.

Adon weaved his way through the compact spaces in between crowds, tables, and chairs, and advanced towards the counter. The nice-looking lady behind it looked up and smiled at him, but otherwise completely ignored him.

He cleared his throat. "Uhm... I'd like to get my share of the rations."

"Oh. You're new, aren't you?" the lady asked, her mouth forming a small circle. She then tapped on a small contraption that was in the form of a halo in front of the counter. She smiled. "Just put your hand through here."

"Okay." Adon lifted his left arm and put it through the hole. The lady chuckled at him and shook her head.

"The other hand. The one with the Armlet," she pointed out. Adon quickly pulled his hand out as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. He apologized sheepishly and put his right hand through the device. There was a _beep_, and the lady nodded at him. She looked at the monitor screen behind the counter and flashed him a smile that radiated warmth. "Adon Lonwolfe."

"Uh, hi."

He heard some rummaging behind the counter as the lady ducked her head down. He was surprised when she produced a sealed tray filled with food. He was really expecting some mystery meat and a serving of green glob. Not that he was looking forward to it.

"Here's your portion. Welcome to the Far East Branch, Adon. And congratulations on becoming a God Eater."

"Thank you." He bowed courteously and walked away for the next person to get his serving.

He stood idly for a moment, surveying the room for a suitable table to sit in. As he did so, a few notable characters caught his attention. In the furthest corner of the room sat a hooded man who seemed to be menacingly glowering at his own food, and a few tables to the left was the charming operator he met earlier, Hibari. She looked surprisingly at peace in spite of the seemingly chatterbox of a man seated across from her.

He saw Licca talking with an old man in one of the tables near the elevator. Adon debated on taking her offer of eating with her. But she seemed rather busy at the moment, explaining something as she moved her hands in different gestures.

Speaking of hand gestures, he noticed a young boy wearing a beanie waving at him excitedly, a childish grin plastered on his face.

Then he spotted Kanon with a few others in a table near the center of the room, laughing joyously. As much as the atmosphere around them was inviting, he had had enough of the klutz's clumsiness for one day.

Not far from their table, he saw the familiar skimpy white clothes of his adviser. He quickly diverted his gaze and moved away, ducking slightly. A few God Eaters gave him weird looks as he hid his face behind his tray while he walked.

He sighed as he continued to look for a table. There were no longer any vacant ones, so he might as well pick a random one. He was about to take a step forward when he suddenly froze like he was struck with lightning.

He quickly shifted his gaze back to a table at the center of the room. And sure enough, there it was. Or rather, there _he_ was. The young boy with the striped beanie and caramel colored hair, a childish grin plastered on his equally childish face, was still waving at him gleefully.

Alarms quickly went off in his head like a siren, going _wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo..._ But as he watched the young boy jump up and down on his seat like a hyperactive kid, it turned into _weirdo, weirdo, weirdo..._

He decided to ignore him and quickly looked away, surveying for a more tolerable table. Although he could only pick one. The one with the hooded young man.

Adon quickly made his way towards the table and took a seat at the opposite end. He settled his tray down and sighed. _What's with the people here? Weird clothes, weird personalities... _Not that he was one to talk. He was, after all, the socially impaired one. He tore the plastic seal off his tray as he continued to think to himself. _Is that it? 'Weird clothes' equates to 'weird personality'?_

He slowly took a bite from the bread, and imaginary tears of joy rimmed his eyes as the delightful provisions slithered down his throat. Who would've known that such a heavenly taste still existed in this godforsaken planet. He then quietly wolfed down the rest of his food.

One glorious minute of peace passed when someone suddenly sat across him. "Hey!"

Adon cringed. _Please... Don't let it be him... Just this once, hear me out! _He slowly looked up. _Oh, will you look at that. It's_—__

"You," he accused.

The boy grinned widely at him and asked, "Want some gum?" He rummaged through several pockets before finally producing the aforementioned gum.

Adon eyed it cautiously before pointing out the obvious. "I'm still eating."

"Oh, right." The boy hung his head in dejection, his bubble of joy seemingly deflated completely.

Adon inwardly groaned as the guilt of rejecting someone gnawed at his heart. And to think, for once, he was actually the rejector and not the rejectee.

_Jeez. Why me? And why is it always the weird ones?_

He took the gum from the boy's outstretched hand and quickly put it in his pocket. "I'll have it later."

"Cool," the boy smiled, absolutely delighted, his mood completely brightening once again in an instant. He then watched Adon like a predator did his prey. Adon was about to ask what it was that he wanted from him when the other boy beat him to it. "You're a new recruit, too, right?"

That caught his attention. He put a spoonful of food to his mouth first before replying. "Hmm. Yeah. You, too?"

"Yep! That makes us brothers in arms... or something like that." He scratched his head as he paused and thought for a moment. "Oh, by the way, I'm Kota. Kota Fujiki."

"Adon." Adon reached out his hand and shook Kota's. "Lonwolfe."

The other boy laughed suddenly. "Ha, that's a good one," he blurted out. But as he noticed Adon looking at him seriously with a straight face, an eyebrow quirked inquisitively, his laugh quickly died down. Realizing his mistake, he scrambled for an excuse. "What I mean is, uh, you know... Your name... it's a good one! Yeah, that's it! And, uh, you know, it's like, uhm... some story's cool protagonist's name! Right? A-he-he. So, uh, yeah. Nice to meet you."

Kota scratched the side of his face as his eyes darted around nervously. He swallowed. Adon was giving him a cold look.

It took a long while before Adon finally shrugged and turned back to his meal, appearing unaffected. "Whatever. Nice to meet you, too."

Cautious now, Kota chose his next words carefully. "So, uh, how old are you? You must be my age, no? Or probably not. You do look a little older."

Adon shot him an incredulous look, the spoon in his hand halfway to his mouth. His glare was back, and Kota gulped. So much for being cautious. Mom did always tell him that he had too big of a mouth, always talking too much and saying unnecessary things. He had better start learning to hold back and not screw this up. This was his chance to start a new life—a new him.

"What are you talking about? I'm barely sixteen."

"Hah! I'm only fifteen! That still makes me right!" he retorted proudly, puffing his chest out.

Adon rolled his eyes at his childishness. "Whatever. That makes _me_ your _senior_, though, " he gladly pointed out, pointing his spoon at himself then towards the other rookie.

Kota paused and thought about it for a moment, tapping his chin. He gave Adon a thoughtful look. "Wait... What time were you matched?"

The older of the two held up his spoon while chewing, then he replied. "Hmm... I think around 1400 hours."

"Hah! I'm _your_ senior! I was matched at 1200 hours!"

This time, it was Adon's turn to give the other an odd look, taking another bite from his food. "So?"

Kota's mouth went agape as he set his arms on the table. "Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

Kota took the opportunity to exemplify his _supposed_ seniority. He leaned forward and closed the gap between them, placing his hands on Adon's shoulders.

Adon's spoon hung from his mouth as he asked nervously, "What do you think you're doing?"

"It's elementary, my dear Watson," Kota started. "Seniority is..." he trailed off suddenly and paused, a blank expression settling on his face. He had it all thought out! He blinked a couple of times, and Adon rolled his eyes.

"...not merely the state of being older?" he suggested.

"Right! It is also... uhm..."

"...dependent on the precedence of position? Especially precedence over others of the same rank by reason of a longer span of service?"

"That's it! ...uh, I guess? Hmm. You sure seem to know your stuff," Kota said, to which Adon only shrugged. Then the former narrowed his eyes. "Wait... You knew all along what I was talking about, didn't you? You were playing me!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Adon answered innocently, peeling off Kota's hands that were still uncomfortably clamped on his shoulders. He then turned back to his meal.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't."

"YES! YOU DO!"

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't!"

Adon suddenly sighed in mock defeat, lifting both his hands up. "Fine. You're right. I don't."

"Hah! Told you!" Kota crossed his arms, puffing his chest out proudly. But they instantly hung loose to his sides as soon as realization dawned on him. "Heeey... You did it again!"

"Did what?"

"That, that! You're playing with me!" Kota pointed an accusing finger at Adon.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're_—_" Kota ran a hand down his face. "Ugh... Never mind."

_Hahaha!_ Adon inwardly cackled like a maniac. _Oh, you poor, poor gullible creature._

A slam on the table took them by surprise, stopping them both of their ruckus. The pair chanced a glance at the forgotten occupant of the table that they had invaded. The young man with the hood wasn't looking at them, but he was obviously furious as he scowled even more at his own meal. He abruptly stood up and briskly walked away, leaving behind his tray of unfinished rations.

"Whoa! What's up with him?" Kota asked.

Adon shrugged apathetically. "Who knows? He was probably annoyed. Maybe the food didn't meet his standards or something."

"But it tastes great!"

"Hmm. Then maybe it was because you invaded on his privacy."

"Why are you blaming this on me? You were the one who intruded first!" Kota grumbled and accused like a child.

"I was quiet. You were noisy."

"What_—_ But_—_ You_—_ I_—_ He_—_ Awww, maaan..." Kota grabbed his head with both hands and banged his head on the table.

_No wonder he's brain-damaged_, Adon concluded silently.

* * *

><p>Lindow rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm. They seem like a pair of good kids. And it looks like they're getting along pretty well, too."<p>

His companion merely nodded as she desperately tried to chew on her corn, to no avail. "Ugh. I hate this," Sakuya grumbled, staring miserably at her food. She placed the nibbled corn back on her tray before shifting her gaze to where Lindow was looking. "They're a bit... rowdy though, don't you think? No wonder Soma got annoyed."

"They're teenage boys! They're hardwired to cause trouble and mischief! And Soma... Well, Soma's Soma," Lindow said with a wave of his hand.

"I guess." A thought suddenly struck her. She placed a fist on her open palm. "That would definitely explain all the issues _you_ caused back when you were their age. I mean, seriously, I'll never forget how angry Tsubaki was because of the Pantie Incident!" she laughed. She then raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Lindow. He had both hands raised and was shaking them at her. His eyes were filled with panic. "Hmm. What's wrong?"

A growl came from the table behind Lindow, and he flinched. "Lindow..."

Sakuya's eyes widened as she covered her gaping mouth with both hands, finally realizing what Lindow was trying to tell her. She whispered, "Sorry," to him, but her eyes were obviously laughing with mirth.

Lindow shot her a look, as if to say, _You'll pay for this_, before slowly craning his head around and looking behind him. Tsubaki had her back to him, but he was sure that her eyes were flaring with death as her body radiated an intense killing intent. Anyone who was within the area completely backed away, trying to stay as away as possible from the annihilation zone, which was, unfortunately, his table.

He gulped as his older sister took her time standing up. It seemed that his eyes had betrayed him because he was somehow seeing a purple aura emanating from her. From the back of his mind came the question, _Is she in Burst Mode?_

Finally, she turned and looked him straight in the eye, and all he could do was laugh nervously as he saw visions of him being brutally massacred.

"E-he-he..."

* * *

><p>Johannes looked up and stared at the door to his office. He was sure he just heard a voice. Specifically, a loud scream. <em>Lindow?<em>

The Director shook his head and returned his attention to the screen of his computer. There were a bunch of opened windows, displaying data of various active and inactive God Eaters and associates of the entire Fenrir Corporation. Another window showed a list of all the projects that Fenrir had undertaken with matching descriptions and dates.

But what grappled his attention the most was the boxed message in the very middle, in bold letters, 'UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS'.

He quickly typed on his keyboard and bypassed the security. However, what greeted him after was a profile that was filled with mere gibberish and blank descriptions. Located at the top left corner of the current active window was, with a recent close-up photo, the name of their first-ever New-type, 'Adon Lonwolfe'.

Johannes rested his chin on his clamped hands that were propped on his desk and, with impassive eyes, stared ahead at nothing but space. "What are they hiding..."


	4. Chapter 3: A Day in the Den

**.-.**

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em>Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows,<br>but only empties today of its strengths._

_- Charles Spurgeon_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 3: A Day in the Den<strong>_

* * *

><p>Lindow's spurring gaze stabbed his face. Even so, he couldn't do anything about it.<p>

In the training center reserved for rookies, Adon held a God Arc dummy with both hands, a feeling of aimless quandary rising inside him. While he tried to fix his stance once more, his opponent, standing across from him, waited patiently. Paired with his own dummy, Lindow stood perfectly calm.

They had been going at it for almost two hours now, sparring and practicing basic movements and various sword maneuvers, as was scheduled for today's Blade Handling period.

The very next day after Kota and Adon were matched as God Eaters, their Rookie Training officially started. They were leisurely sprawled on the lobby's lounge, doing absolutely nothing, when they were approached by one completely pissed Tsubaki ("_What do you think you're doing, slacking off on your first day!_") and were introduced to a limping Lindow ("_The name's Lindow Amamiya. On paper, I'm your superior officer. But don't mind all those boring stuff, okay?_").

It had been three days since then.

Adon looked up with half-closed eyes, basking in the harsh glow of the lights. The large white room was completely illuminated. With clothes as dark as a starless nighttime sky, coupled with his raven hair that seemed to have a mind of its own, he stood out like a grey wolf in the middle of an endless field of snow. There was only the sound of his distraught breathing, but he focused and listened to the repetitive rhythm of his heart beating heavily against his chest.

He took a much needed deep breath and wiped sweat off his face. _Just a few more __minutes_, he told himself. The thought of taking a shower and washing off the sweat on his body was becoming more and more appealing by the second.

He slowly straightened his posture and held the practice sword upright with both hands, taking a centered stance. And without any warning, he kicked off from his spot and dashed forward in a murky blur, red eyes focused as he transfixed his aim on his target: Lindow.

While he quickly closed the distance between them, his opponent remained completely still in his place and patiently waited for his strike that was to come. Adon charged and slashed the large blade in a _swish_, but Lindow sidestepped the attack smoothly. He lifted his own blade and calmly blocked the next strike. _Clang._ And the next. _Clang._ And the next. _Clang._

They ceaselessly traded thrusts and slashes, causing numerous sparks wherever their blades met. Lindow easily deflected all of Adon's attacks, like it was some kind of child's play, while the latter had a hard time keeping his balance and at the same time maintaining his stance. In fact, he was already too tired to even just lift the heavy sword up.

"Keep your guard up," Lindow would tell him, then he would whap Adon in the side with the flat of his ginormous blade.

With every whap, Adon's already battered body would get even more bruised. He parried and countered, desperately trying to keep up with his instructor's swipes, but any energy he had left was slowly seeping out of his body.

Lindow noticed the sudden sluggish movements of his student and deemed it was time to end the bout. He narrowed his eyes and started to press Adon with more force, slashing and stabbing at his weak points. In closing, he quickly spun and feinted to his left.

Adon carelessly took the bait, and the next thing he knew, his giant sword was already skidding on the matted floor and the tip of Lindow's blade was a couple of inches from his undefended chest. He fell flat on his bottom in complete defeat, eyes closed as he gasped for air.

"Game. Set. Match." Lindow placed his dummy God Arc on his shoulder and grinned, not the least bit fatigued. "You're getting a lot better. You're just about ready to take on the Aragami replicas."

He took a step forward and reached out his free hand for his fallen apprentice. Gladly taking it, Adon pulled himself up

"Thanks." He smoothed his sweat-drenched clothes before looking up at his instructor. "How do you even handle the weight of that thing? It's so heavy."

Lindow shrugged nonchalantly. "You'll get used to the heaviness eventually. It will just take some time for you to adjust." He casually swung his blade with one hand like it was some piece of stick before waving off his student's concerns. "Don't worry too much about it. For now, all you need to do is focus on training and preparing yourself for what's out there."

"The Aragami?"

"Yes... But not just that. You need to be ready for _anything_," Lindow emphasized. His usual carefree face took on a more serious expression as he continued. "That's why we're training you now. It's so that you'll be completely capable of surviving on your own in this world no matter what happens. As much as it would suck for you if you died, you are still an invaluable resource. We can't just throw you out there inexperienced. All this weaponry is useless if you just end up dead. After all, without your life, you're nothing."

As much as Adon hated to admit it, it was the absolute and unmitigated truth. Life and death. Victory and defeat. Honor and disgrace. All of these, they came _not _hand in hand. There was only one way or the other. You live or you die. It was the sad truth that everyone had to accept and live with in this godforsaken planet.

Nevertheless, it did not necessarily mean he had to like it. He just had to accept it. And live with it. In fact, if he were to have his way, he was going to turn this world completely upside down and change the course it was set on. Besides, what was the point of living in such a grandiose stage if they were all but mere puppets in this lifelong play?

Then again, what could he actually even do. In reality, he was just another 'resource'. A disposable commodity. A _thing _that could be used and thrown away at any given time. He was none too keen about all of it, but it was the harsh and bitter reality of this life.

Still, he knew, and appreciated, how Lindow at least meant it to be not like that.

Lindow was not that kind of person.

He wasn't like _them_.

He wasn't like _him._

("_You must constantly remind yourself..._")

A cold shiver suddenly ran up his spine as he felt a familiar throb on his left shoulder.

It was not pain, however.

It was a reminder...

("_You must constantly remind yourself..._")

...Of what he was.

He resisted the urge of touching it with his hand and shrugged the grim feeling off instead. It wasn't the time for him to be having cold feet.

"You're starting to sound like Tsubaki," Adon teased, to which Lindow merely chuckled.

"I guess you're right," he responded. Still, he caught the slight flash of fear in the younger God Eater's eyes. Not really knowing the true source of it, he tried to say something nonetheless. "But hey, just take it easy, okay? It's not like you're the only one who's carrying the burden of protecting humanity. You have us, your superiors, and also your friends and comrades, to rely on."

"Okay." Adon nodded, despite that Lindow had completely misunderstood, forcing an optimistic smile before striding to where his sword laid motionless on the floor. He grabbed hold of its hilt, lifting it up with both hands. The balance felt wrong in his grip, but it did feel a lot lighter now compared to the first time he had held it.

"_Its structure and weight are completely the same to that of a real God Arc. The only setback is there is only one design for each of the blade types: a Knife, a Blade, and a Claymore. It would still be best to practice with your own God Arc after you get the hang of using one_," Lindow had explained to him during their first session.

"_A Short Blade has, well, a short reach. But with its light weight, you can make up for the range with offensive speed and quickness. Long Blades are the well-balanced blades, though they are only average in terms of power and range. Nonetheless, if you are able to master its use, it can become the most versatile weapon. Lastly, the Buster Blade. It's a powerful blade with a long reach. However, due to its size and weight, it's slow and will leave you vulnerable in long periods of time. But if you are able to anticipate your enemy's next move, unleashing one devastating blow with perfect aim may just be enough to turn the tide of a battle._"

After clumsily stumbling multiple times with his first choice, a Claymore, and feeling that a Knife's reach just wasn't enough, Adon finally settled with the Blade.

"_I think it's what suits you best_," Lindow had told him with a nod of his head.

Adon lifted the bronze-colored training Blade and swung it with both hands once before limply grasping it. He turned to Lindow, a training Blade of his own at his side. "That's it for today?"

"Yup! You shouldn't push yourself too much. Besides, you still have that Gun Handling lesson with Sakuya later, right?" Lindow inquired, and his student nodded in response. "Well, you'll need stamina no matter what it is that you'll do. So, let's go and grab lunch!"

The young God Eater merely shook his head in amusement, smiling, and followed his exuberant instructor out of the Training Center.

* * *

><p>"Ugh..."<p>

Adon looked up as he chewed the food in his mouth. The mess hall was abuzz with loud noises since almost everyone was present for lunch, but he was still able to identify that distinct groan over the chattering and rattling. He watched the other boy, shoulders hunched, drag his feet like a dead man walking towards the table. Adon took note of the boy's expression, looking like a zombie himself.

"Yo. What's wrong?" he asked the rookie.

Kota slumped on the seat opposite Adon and planted his face flat on the table with a loud _thump_. His beanie sagged slightly. "Ahyxdnlyshtskya..." came his incoherent mumble.

"Oh, cool. New language," the older rookie said. He raised his spoon in the air. "Let me guess. 'Adon, you're so awesome.'"

_Hmm... Adon the Awesome. _He smirked to himself, liking the sound of that.

Kota looked up and frowned at his fellow God Eater. Adon was putting another spoonful of food into his mouth, appearing unmindful. Yeah, what a great, sensitive friend he was. Then out of the blue, tears started to rim the sulking boy's eyes as he whimpered, his lips trembling.

"I shot Sakuya."

"Mmm. So, you shot Sakuya. What's wrong wit—" Adon suddenly choked, realization finally coming to him while he was swallowing a mouthful of rice.

In spite of his own plight, Kota had an amused look on his face as he watched his suffocating friend pound himself in the chest with his fist. Karma was indeed a bitch.

Adon grabbed the can of juice next to his tray and quickly gobbled its contents, chugging all of it down in one go. A few gulps later and he immediately felt his throat loosen. And after coughing and gasping for a huge amount of air, he scowled at Kota. "What the hell, man! That wasn't funny."

Any trace of amusement immediately left Kota's face. "I wasn't joking," he muttered before planting his face on the table once again.

For a moment, Adon just stared at the other rookie, who was queerly banging his head on the table in even intervals. Then his eyes widened. "Holy shit! What happened?" On an unrelated mental note, he thought of how his brain was unusually slow today.

"I just told you. I shot Sakuya."

"I got that! I mean, how?" asked an exasperated Adon with a roll of his eyes.

"You know how to shoot. Why are you still asking me."

He tried to rub off an oncoming headache. He gritted his teeth in impatience and hissed, "Kota... How. Did. It. Happen."

The troubled lad sighed woefully and sat straighter on his seat, a distressed look settling over the grin-plastered face he usually had. "Well, she was teaching me about all that mumbo jumbo about bullet types and whatnot. You know, Shots, Lasers, Orbs, Bombs..."

"Yeah, yeah. And?" Adon prodded for him to continue. He pushed aside his tray and leaned forward on the table, curiosity getting the best of him, but nonetheless worried.

"Well, after that, we were supposed to start shooting practice. I was so excited to show Sakuya what I could do, you know," Adon rolled his eyes here, "but for some reason, my God Arc just wasn't working right. As it turned out, the safety lock was flipped on the whole time. Sakuya sort of found it funny, you know. She just shook her head and laughed. She actually laughed!

"Anyway, after a moment of lecturing, she eventually undid it for me." Kota sighed deplorably. "But I forgot that I still had my finger pressed on the trigger, so as soon as the lock was turned off..." he trailed off, planting his face again on the table.

"No..." Adon said, horrified, while his fellow rookie started to sob. He could only imagine what might have happened. Brutal images of his Gun Handling instructor's body flashed in his mind. Shaking off his thoughts, he hesitantly asked, "What happened to her?"

"I shot her straight in the chest, Adon! What do you think happened to her!" shrieked the hysterical Kota. All at once, the mess hall went silent as they all looked over at their table. God Eaters who were on their way to get food or on their way to their tables stopped while those already sitting looked up, all ears perked.

"Okay, okay." Adon raised his hands to try and hush his neurotic friend. "Just calm down."

Slowly, the staring public returned to what they were doing, as if nothing had happened. Adon sighed and shook his head.

"Ugh..." Kota groaned as he rested his chin on the table.

Adon regarded him with a condoling expression and, with deep concern for the well-being of Sakuya, spoke, "Look. She's gonna be _fine_. She's a God Eater, after all. I bet she's had worse injuries. Maybe this is the first life-threatening one, but hey, there's always a first time for everything. Besides, with Fenrir's technology, anything is possible."

His friend shot him a strange look.

_Okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly the helpful thing to say_, Adon thought to himself. It was not the least bit comforting.

"What are you talking about? We were using paralysis bullets, so she's only paralyzed," Kota stated.

Adon's eye twitched, and Kota just kept looking at him with that look that he just oh so wanted to wipe off his _damn_ face.

With a sudden urge to do so, he reached out with both hands, wanting to strangle the other rookie. But as he lurched forward, he accidentally slipped off his seat where he was sitting on the edge of, and it had somehow become his turn to plant his face on the table. Thankfully, his tray of food was previously put to the side. _That _would have been a mess.

No matter how one looked at it, the world really had it out for him. He could only wonder why.

There were a few snickers coming from the table behind him, but he purposefully ignored them. Slowly, he retracted his hands and rubbed his forehead and parts of his stung face. He glared at the other rookie across from him.

Kota was trying to hold in his laugh but was failing miserably, body shaking uncontrollably and eyes alight with mirth.

"Damn it, Kota! You should have told me that first! Jeez. You had me all worried for nothing," Adon said, but he was seemingly ignored as the other rookie suddenly burst out laughing. Again, heads turned their way, looking at them with eyebrows raised. Everyone should have been used to it by now though.

In the Cafeteria alone, there were already quite a number of occasions where the mental state of the people in the Den should have been greatly questioned. Strange was beginning to become the new norm.

Actually, weird was probably a more fitting description.

It took a few moments, but Kota finally settled down, rubbing imaginary tears off his eyes. "Oh, gosh. That was just epic! You should have seen the look on you face!"

Adon snorted. "Well, I'm glad you had your fun."

His so-called friend once again had that usual grin plastered on his _damn_ face, and, once again, Adon wanted to wipe it off his annoying, _damn_ face.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>The still air vibrated as a loud roar echoed. What followed was the sound of glass breaking as an Ogretail broke through floor-to-ceiling windows of a building. Light glinted off the scattered broken mirrors, gleaming lavishly icy with the dying sun. The adventurous Aragami stood still, looking around as if it was unsure of where to go next, then it slowly marched towards a random direction, away from the still shadow hiding its presence.<p>

Safely observing from a distance, Soma made his leave when he was sure he had remained unnoticed.

He rushed over the ground like rapids of a river, moving fluidly and swiftly. Nevertheless, he was cautious. The large blade he dragged around with both his hands made no sound as did his feet that trod on the parched earth. He made sure that he made no noise while he moved behind buildings, passed through alleys and jumped over walls, completely avoiding detection. After all, that was his current mission. And he carried it out loyally.

He was well aware of the Aragami that lurked at every corner, lying in wait for any meal to devour. They prowled this desolate city before and after dark and were mere shades on streets that were destitute of any light. Still, their cries of hunger gave away their locations. He could have easily and swiftly dealt with these instinct-driven beasts. That, however, wasn't part of his objectives.

It had been months since he was assigned this mission of reconnaissance, yet he was just as close to completing it as he was when he first started. He had been tasked to investigate about the Singularity, an existence that he greatly questioned. He didn't even have any idea what 'it'was supposed to be, and the secretive Director never did grace his vocal query with a straight answer.

"_You're basically asking me to look for a needle in a haystack!_" Soma had told him._  
><em>

And the only reply the Director gave was, "_Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while._"

It was intensely distressing how his own father was completely cryptic even to him.

In the end, though, no matter what questions plagued his thoughts, it was a mission and a strict directive from the Director himself. Nothing less of accomplishing it was expected of him. He supposed he would know what the 'Singularity' was when he saw it.

Setting aside all thoughts, he quickly made his way toward the barricaded area, jumped over the tall steel fence, and went straight into the abandoned church near the center of the city. It was one of few remaining structures still mostly intact.

There had been reports of a mysterious presence within the area. Although there had been no specifics, Soma was still ordered to check on the possibility of the presence being 'it'_._

Inside, it was completely dark, save for a few rays of sunlight that made their way through the holes on the ceiling.

He pasted himself against the wall and carefully strode on the tiled floor, making sure to step over small and large rocks that littered the ground. He paused next to the entryway and held his breath before cautiously peeking in.

Seeing it completely empty, he clicked his tongue. "Tsk." He relaxed his tense muscles and grabbed his communicator from his pocket. "This is Soma... So far no contact with the target." There was a murmur of reply. "Okay... I'll continue to investigate."

He pocketed the communicator back and shouldered his God Arc. He surveyed the insides of the church from where he stood in the doorway.

The entrance to the main hallway was now nothing but a wide gaping hole. Large masses of rubble decorated the interior, and the only things that remained standing were the pillars, sustaining the roof of the huge building and preventing it from completely collapsing. Shadows danced on the walls as sunlight passed through the glass windows, giving off an eerie feeling.

He slowly made his way forward, casually stepping over the chopped benches and small rocks that were scattered on the floor. There were piles of food wrappers and empty bottles near the corners, and, sadly, there were also traces of dried-up blood on the walls, signs that people had taken refuge inside when the Aragami had first appeared. And if he had tried hard enough, he would have been able to smell the still-present stench of rotten corpses wafting in the arid air.

When he finally reached the front where he supposed the pulpit would have been, he turned and looked back. He figured this was probably the spot where the priest stood in front of the congregation during church masses. He swept his gaze allover, half in boredom, half in admiration of the architecture.

Then a slight movement of shadow caught his attention. He quickly swerved around and stared up at the large tear on the wall where the blazing sun sneaked in its bitter glare.

"Is someone there?" he called out in a booming voice, his voice echoing inside the walls of the church and not minding in the slightest that he had given away his position. He narrowed his eyes, gripped his God Arc tightly, and waited.

But no reply ever came. There was just ghostly silence, as if there was an ongoing funeral.

He could have sworn...

"Did I imagine it?" he whispered to himself.

* * *

><p>With his Gun Handling lesson cancelled and self-training period shortened, Adon had gone to visit Licca in her workshop since she supposedly had something to show him.<p>

"So..." The pewter-haired mechanic unconsciously twiddled her fingers around each other. "What do you think?"

Well, to be completely honest, he had no idea what to think, let alone what to say. To be given something that was akin to a gift was an experience he had not had before. There was this some sort of overwhelm of emotion he couldn't quite identify, and from it his heart somewhat swelled. Was this what thankfulness felt like? It was all absolutely new to him.

And what was he supposed to do now? Should he comment on its make? Or was he supposed to praise the creator for a job well done?

What if he said the wrong thing?

He simply didn't know, and so, he remained silent and kept on staring at the God Arc instead.

Offhandedly, he thought about how truly sad it was that he was socially inept this much.

The large blade, cobalt blue edged with stygian black, glinted in the bright lights of the God Arc Maintenance Room. Adon gripped the handle tightly with both hands, gently swinging it from side to side. It felt good—no, _perfect_—in his hands. The balance was absolutely _perfect_, not to mention the weight was shockingly light despite the overall thickness and length of the blade. The handle fitted his grip perfectly like it was meant to be there.

_Clemencor_, he thought, as it was what Licca had called the model.

"I did some necessary adjustments so that the weight will suit you more," Licca explained, nervously trying to fill in the silence. "During your training, I sort of noticed from your movements that you prefer to attack with speed. I made it so that you could slash with it more swiftly. The density is a little off, though. It may not be as sturdy as it could be, but when I get better materials, I could make more improvements."

_You're rambling again_, she scolded herself. Slightly apprehensive, she shifted one foot and bit her lower lip as Adon remained completely silent.

"Uhm... If you don't want it—"

He suddenly shook his head a little too much. "No, no! It's just that... I don't know what to say," he told her honestly, a sheepish smile gracing his face as he eyed the new form of his God Arc. Maybe it was best if he just went out and told her what he truly felt. Nothing bad would come out of that, right? Unsure, he turned to Licca and held her gaze, earnestly conveying his gratitude, "Thank you."

The warmth of his words seemed to have transferred to her cheeks. "Oh, it's nothing," she replied with a nervous chuckle. She quickly wheeled around to hide the rising blush on her face. _Get a hold of yourself! _she thought.

Trying to occupy herself, she turned her attention to the table where her tools were scattered and toyed with a few, though she wasn't really accomplishing anything in particular. She was too distracted by the presence of the young God Eater in her 'laboratory'. Thankfully, Adon seemed to be busy looking around while she tried to keep up the lame pretense.

He tried to take in every single detail, although there weren't much, really.

The God Arc Maintenance Room was an absolute mess.

No, the room itself was the manifestation of messiness.

How Licca managed to make such a clutter in a wide chamber with a high ceiling was beyond him.

Apart from the two of them, the only other things that occupied the otherwise vacant and spacious workshop were three long tables, the countless materials scattered on top of them, and several maintenance and precision machinery.

On each table was the same case: various mechanical tools that appeared to have been thrown on one another with absolutely no heed. A couple of magazines were shuffled in with a pile of blueprints on one table, and somehow, a mug with dirtied edges and a piece of half eaten bread had gotten thrown into the mix.

There was a lone terminal at the far corner of the room, and as with other things that were of the color charcoal also sticking tightly to the floor and the tables' edges, there were traces of dried oil on the electronic machine too.

He also took note of the faint smell of gasoline and grease in the air.

The worst stereotype for a mechanic had become a reality in the room. And it was hardly believable that the room belonged to a girl.

Licca Kusunoki, the youngest mechanic in the Far East Branch's God Arc Maintenance Unit, not only loved her job, but also cherished the activities that came along with it: maintaining and adjusting and operating God Arcs.

Like most girls, Licca appeared to be practical, although, from the looks of it, that merely applied to things that concerned her interests.

However, completely unlike most girls, her only interests involved machinery and tools and weapons... and iced curry.

Adon returned his gaze to the lady-mechanic in question, somewhat amazed at her dedication. Then something peculiar on the table she was working on caught his attention.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, nodding towards the large contraption.

"Hmm? Oh, this?" Licca lifted what appeared to be an unfinished gun with six barrels. Despite its incomplete frame and form, it was still already much larger than his current Assault Auto-gun. "It's the gun that goes with the Clemencor. I originally planned to finish it along with the blade," she sighed and then put it back down, "but I need a few more materials to complete it. And they're pretty hard to come by these days."

"Oh? That's too bad. Anyway, I've been sort of meaning to ask. How exactly do you make these things?" Adon lifted the God Arc. "I mean, they look just like any other sword made of metal. But normal swords supposedly can't do much damage against the Aragami, right?"

"Well, God Arcs are really complex weapons, but basically, they _are_ made of metal, _just like_ any other normal sword and gun." She immediately lifted a hand up to silence him when he tried to ask another question. He quickly shut up. She was apparently in 'teacher' Licca mode. "Still, for them to actually harm an Aragami is a completely other matter, though.

"You see, the different compositions of the Aragami are pretty complicated, and, even after all these years of research, no one still has a full comprehension of what they truly are. What we do know, though, is that they are made of Oracle Cells and they have superlative physical qualities. They are very hard and sturdy, not to mention they have flesh like diamonds, and pretty much nothing can do them any harm.

"So, the question is: how exactly do we 'scratch' the Aragami?" she asked rhetorically and paused for effect. Her eyes appeared to gleam with pride as she talked about her area of expertise. "By using another 'diamond', of course!

"Therefore, to become effective against the Aragami, which are composed of Oracle Cells, what we need are mechanical weapons infused with these same Oracle Cells. In short, the God Arcs are actually Aragami themselves. Well, artificially man-made, that is. And it is only because of the Artificial CNS cores we plant in the God Arcs that you are able to wield and control them.

"Anyways, back to your original question. Actually making the God Arcs is where we mechanics come in. We usually follow certain 'recipes' to build God Arcs, though from time to time, we do experiment around with different materials to come up with new models with better makes and properties.

"Presently, we are still only able to complete the frames and structures of the God Arcs with metalwork. You know, like blacksmiths, _old-school_ style." She smirked and appeared to hammer something imaginary, like it was some kind of an inside joke. "Even though it _is _possible to build a God Arc made solely of materials infused with Oracle Cells, someone still has yet to come up with a working recipe. So, at least for now, we're stuck with using different types of metal.

"In any case, after we complete the body of a God Arc with metalwork, we finally add the materials infused with Oracle Cells. For God Arc blades, we line up the Oracle Cells along the blades' edges to allow them to cut and harm the Aragami. As for guns, we convert the cells into Oracles Bullets, which you use, well, as bullets. As for the materials, well, we have you God Eaters to thank for them. The ones we normally use are the materials you guys gather from the Aragami themselves. Essentially speaking, you can say that the Aragami's weakness is themselves."

Licca closed her long lecture and watched Adon, a serious expression on his face as he stared at his God Arc, seemingly pondering over everything she just said.

"Well, like I said, God Arcs are pretty complex weapons, but that's pretty much there is to know about them," she asserted with a nod of her head. A thought unexpectedly struck her. She looked down and nervously twiddled her fingers. "But if you want, I can show you the know-hows another time," she mumbled.

Adon quickly looked up. "What?"

"N-nothing! It's nothing! A-he-he..." Licca scratched the side of her face and looked sideways.

He watched her skeptically, but decided to shrug it off. _Whatever._

He turned back to staring at the large blade in his hands. With these bits of new-found knowledge, he seemed to have become more in-sync and connected with his God Arc. And he was, in a way, glad he had a better understanding of it now. It had picked him, after all, and him alone. They were practically bound together, the red armlet attached to him a proof of this. It was no longer just a simple weapon that was supposed to become an extension of his arms. It had become a part of him too.

Realizing this, he knew what to do next.

"Maybe I can get them," he suddenly told Licca. It had to be him. He had to do it himself.

Still caught in her own thoughts, she blinked, completely lost. "H-huh? Get what?"

"You know, the rest of the materials that you need. It's the least I could do for everything you're doing for me," he pointed out, looking her straight in the eyes.

It was good enough of a reason, and it wasn't entirely untrue. It _was _the least he could do, although, in truth, that was not the only reason he offered to do such a thing. His real motivation stemmed from his own selfishness, since, for the most part, it was him simply trying to prove _something._

Her eyes widened. "No way! I can't let you do that! It may be too dangerous for a rookie."

She might as well have told him that he was out of his mind or downright crazy.

Well, that might have been the actual case since, after all, he still hadn't gone on his first mission yet, not to mention he didn't even have any idea what the materials were or how hard indeed they were to get. So, yes, he just might have been out of his mind or downright crazy.

Still, her statement struck a nerve. He had, as far as he could recall, always hated being underestimated.

He frowned, although Licca didn't seem to notice as she appeared to debate with herself.

"It's no problem. Besides, I don't want to owe you so much," he reasoned.

She hesitated and chewed on her lower lip. "...I dunno. I guess it won't hurt to try..." she trailed off, then she shook her head. "Wait. On second thought, it may actually hurt to try! And, seriously, they're very hard to get."

"You don't believe in me?" Adon raised an eyebrow, half in challenge, half in teasing. He was consciously aware of what he was doing. And it was wrong, he knew, how he was manipulating her this way—how he was toying with her emotions.

But he had no choice. He had to do this.

Well, that was what he had convinced himself of, anyway.

She raised her palms up as if to push the thought out of his mind. "No! I mean, yes! I mean, uh... I believe in you. It's just that..." she rattled apprehensively. The determination she had been holding unto until now was slowly coming undone. Under his resolute gaze, she couldn't possibly refuse.

"You just said it won't hurt to try, right?" He cut her short before she could hesitate again.

When she finally sighed and looked him in the eye, he knew he had her.

And in spite of the guilt he felt about the cruelty behind his own actions, there was still a small flicker of satisfaction somewhere within him. It was meager yet quite undeniably sadistic in nature. And it frightened him.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>Kota enveloped his arms around his head from where it was lying on the table, his face appearing to droop in depression just as his brimless cap did.<p>

"Ugh... What am I gonna do..." he mumbled.

Adon decided to pay him no attention and simply focused on eating his dinner.

"Sakuya..."

He ignored him again and silently continued to eat.

"She's ignoring me..."

_Me, too_, he wanted to say. Sighing, he finally spoke up. "Of course she is. You shot her," he deadpanned. Kota cringed. "It's not that big of a deal. As long as she's fine, right?"

"But... b-but I basically shot down all of my chances with her by shooting her herself!" the miserable rookie cried out.

_Like you ever had a chance with her, anyway_, Adon thought of saying, but decided not to rub more salt into the wound.

"Well, I think that should be the least of your worries."

Kota straightened up and hesitantly asked, "What do you mean?"

"Oh, well, you know. You shot a fellow agent, your instructor at that, and put her life in danger. They'll probably kick you out."

"What!" His eyes widened, pupils large, like brown meatballs on white saucers. He pressed his hands on the sides of his head, a horrified look on his face. It would have been comical if not for the fact that he was hyperventilating.

Adon sighed as he watched his fellow rookie breath raggedly, completely hysterical with panic. He was just too gullible and innocent, it immediately made Adon feel guilty for teasing him.

"Calm down. I'm kidding. It was just a joke."

"But you're right! What if I they do kick me out!" Kota practically screamed, suddenly jumping to his feet.

Adon dropped the utensils he was holding and nervously gestured for his neurotic friend to sit back down as the cafeteria grew silent all of sudden. They were once again at the center of everyone's attention.

"Sshh, sit down, will you!" he growled at the disgruntled boy. "They won't kick you out, okay? It was just an accident. Besides, there was no harm done."

"Are you sure?" Kota asked warily.

"Yes. Now, sit down!" Adon commanded and sighed in relief when his sullen friend finally settled back into his seat.

He picked up his fork and plucked a piece of meat from his tray, putting it in his mouth. _Mmm... This is really good._ He simply savored the food in his mouth for a few moments while he watched his friend finally relax a little bit before speaking again.

"Look, you have nothing to worry about. From what I hear, Kanon shoots her teammates all the time by 'accident'. You don't see them kicking her out, do you?"

"Seriously?" Kota seemed to perk up at this, completely intrigued.

Adon nodded, fork hanging from his mouth. "Mm-hm. Honestly, it shouldn't be that surprising. I mean, you see how she is."

Kota paused and thought about it for a moment. He placed a contemplative hand on his chin and nodded. "Hmm, I guess you're right. She does seem like a huge klutz, not to mention an airhead."

_You're one to talk_, Adon thought.

Then again, what right did he have to accuse others of their disappointing qualities, considering how he was a disappointment himself.

(_"You must constantly remind yourself...")_

He shook his head and concentrated on eating his meal, thankful for the long pause in their ongoing conversation. It had been a long and slow yet very eventful day, with a lot of things happening here and there. This short moment was a much needed reprieve.

It was much too short than he had hoped for, however.

"Alright! I've decided!" Kota suddenly announced. "I'm going to win back her trust! And her heart!"

Adon looked up and stared at him with a dull face.

"I'm going to win back her trust! And her—"

"I heard you the first time, you idiot!" screamed the frustrated raven-haired rookie. He placed a hand on his face, debating whether he should even ask or not. However, considering how Kota was obviously insistent, he decided on the former and asked reluctantly, "What do you mean you're 'going to win back her heart'?"

Kota slammed his fist on his palm, eyes sparkling with determination. "That's the path a true lover would take!"

Adon groaned and ran a hand down his face. _Dumbass_. He looked at the rookie with a lot of screws loose and pointed at him with the fork in his hand. "So, you're her lover now?"

"Yes! I mean- NOOO! Of course not! You know what I mean!"

"Whatever."

"Anyway, as- as... as an admirer... Yes! That's it! An admirer!" Kota grinned and once again slammed his fist on his palm this time with some sense of fulfillment.

"You mean stalker..." Adon interjected disinterestedly, placing his chin on his erected palm.

Kota ignored him. "As an admirer, I'll do everything I can to win her heart! And we'll be together forever!"

The annoyed boy watched his grinning friend and sighed. "Whatever. I'm happy for you—okay, not really." Kota frowned, but Adon simply waved it off. "Anyway, that's all good and whatnot, but haven't you heard? There has been a rumor going around, you know."

The other rookie froze. He hesitantly asked, "Rumor? What rumor?"

"Well, apparently, Sakuya already has a boyfriend."

"What!" Kota felt like he was punched in the gut. "Sakuya? The gorgeous and mighty Sakuya? Already has a boyfriend?"

Adon rolled his eyes. _What an idiot. _"Yeah, and they say the two of them always go out on dates."

"Gyak!" This time, Kota felt like an arrow stabbed him right through the heart.

"Some even say they always see the two of them holding hands..."

"Guh!" Another stab.

Adon smirked. And for the finishing blow. "...and they always kiss."

"Hhh." All the air quickly left Kota's lungs, and he fell forward, his face planting flat on the table.

Adon stared at his deflated friend and grinned. _Oh, my dear revenge. How sweet you are indeed._

"Hey, Adon. Who is this 'boyfriend' anyway?" asked the lifeless Kota after a few moments.

His grin widened as his friend took the bait. _Oh, Kota. You poor, poor gullible creature._ He was like a simple moth easily drawn to a flame. And what made matters worse was it was Adon's flame. He was practically the devil's incarnate himself. Kota would be lucky if he were able to leave with just a burn.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Adon prompted.

The hapless brunette swallowed and straightened in his seat. "Y-yes!"

"Alright. Come here." Adon gestured with his hand for him to come closer.

Kota leaned forward, then Adon whispered a name that sent him into a downward spiral of utter unbelief. His eyes widened in complete shock.

"No way..." he trailed off. "I... I can't believe it." He slowly stood up from his seat, looking as if he had just seen a ghost. "Sorry, but... I'll be going now... to think things over. I don't know what else tomorrow will bring."

Adon rolled his eyes at the other's antics. "Sit down. I was just kidding. As if Sakuya will actually get together with Paylor."

But Kota didn't seem to hear him as he continued to mumble to himself. Adon watched him walk away and shrugged.

"Ah, whatever."

This was alright, he supposed. This was what he wanted anyway. Some peace and quiet.

Kota, at times—well, most of the time—was just too loud for his tastes. As much as the older rookie enjoyed the younger rookie's company once in a while, the ruckus the latter caused every now and then always drove the former on edge.

Others seemed to disagree with him though, laughing it off and saying that Kota was simply being 'young' and 'lively'.

He shook his head and turned his attention back to his forgotten dinner, glad that he could once again eat in peace.

Then again, with how his luck had been going, this moment would most likely not last as long as he wanted. The world was really against him, after all, he had figured.

And as if to prove him right, "Hey, where's Kota?" came the uninvited guest's query.

"Just left," Adon responded after he swallowed the food he was chewing in his mouth. He looked up and raised a questioning eyebrow at the God Eater in red. "This is a surprise. You're not with Hibari tonight."

Tatsumi shrugged and sat down in Kota's previous spot, placing his own tray of rations on the table. "Apparently, she had something to do in the Outer Ghetto. It sucks, but hey, I have you guys to keep me company!" He grabbed a piece of bread and took a bite. "So, how's your training been going?"

Adon groaned. "Ugh. Please, don't remind me."

"Not going so well?" another uninvited guest asked as he took the seat next to Adon.

The rookie shook his head. "It's not that. It's just too _exhausting_. I have two hours of Blade Handling in the mornings, then two hours of Gun Handling in the afternoons. And they still force me to have self-training in between."

Tatsumi whistled. "They sure are harsh to you guys. And even harsher to you, New-type." Adon snorted at the nickname.

"You know, it wasn't like that back when we were rookies," disclosed Brendan.

"Seriously?" Adon had to wonder if there was actually a time when everything was easier.

"Yeah. The training then was much simpler and less demanding. There was even a whole class of us that underwent the training at the same time. We were around two dozens of rookies," Brendan stated. "Although, the training then took a whole lot more than just a few months, and it was only after we completed the whole curriculum did they finally let us go out on official missions. Sure, they might have been more accommodating to us, but they were much stricter compared to now."

"Still, it sure sounds nice. You know, being in a whole class of rookies," Adon remarked wistfully. _It would have been nice to have some other people around aside from Kota_, he amended to himself. "What happened?"

"Well, I guess you can say that over the course of a few years, Fenrir started running out of possible matches. The number of monthly recruits dwindled. And nowadays, we'd be lucky to even get one new recruit every month," Brendan explained. "Because of this, I honestly think they've become really desperate just to be able to throw more God Eaters out there."

Adon felt cold shivers slither their way up and down beneath his skin as his senior looked pointedly at him.

Tatsumi shook his head pessimistically. "But at least we're making some advances too, y'know. Look! We finally have a New-type." He smiled at Adon, and the rookie once again felt those same goosebumps pricking his senses. "Man, I can't wait to see what you New-types can do!"

"Yeah..." he mumbled, his voice trailing off. _Can't wait_, he thought to himself bitterly.

Despite having decided against it, there was still an urge to spurn the older God Eater's anticipations, considering how he himself had no idea what the actual capabilities of New-types were. He was barely managing as it was in handling a Blade and a Gun in quick, successive variations, much less use them in real-life combat.

They were putting too much expectations on him.

And the thought of failing... Honestly, it scared him.

The fear of failure—it was _embedded_ on him. Quite literally.

And as if to remind him, he felt that familiar throb in his left shoulder.

("_Failure is not an option..._")

Adon brushed it off apathetically as the group settled in an uneven but otherwise placid silence. Somehow having lost his appetite, he started playing with his food while the older God Eaters, oblivious, munched away at their respective rations. For some reason, he was feeling slightly lightheaded and nauseous.

Maybe it was just the fatigue catching up to him. Yes, that must have been it, he told himself.

"By the way, I've been wondering, what did you do before you became a God Eater?" Tatsumi asked offhandedly after a few moments of silence.

He received no answer, however.

Adon tried to process the older God Eater's question, to no avail. He was becoming dizzy and empty-headed, and he had no idea why. His vision was narrowing and starting to lose focus.

"..."

("_You must constantly remind yourself..._")

"..."

("_...constantly remind yourself of what you are... ...you must not allow yourself to forget this..._")

Brendan continued to eat, trying to appear uncaring of the awkwardness that heavily hung around their table, which was so thick, he was sure he could have sliced his dull spoon through. He did, however, take note of the source of the silence as he cast a sideways glance. And he had to admit, he was slightly caught off-guard at the sight of the young rookie's masked expression.

Tatsumi gulped at Adon's soulless look. He raised his palms and nervously shook them. "Oh, hey, you don't have to answer, you know. I mean, we all have our own secrets to hide, right? Hell, what does it even matter? You're one of us Aragami-fighting dogs now! You know what, just forget I even asked. Brendan here has a secret of his own, you know. He—"

"Idiot! It's called a 'secret' for a reason," growled Brendan, slightly annoyed at his insensitive friend.

The blabbering man chuckled sheepishly under the threatening gaze of his friend. "Oh, right. Well, anyway! Adon, what do you—"

"...I was an orphan," Adon answered at last, having shaken off a little of the vertigo and momentarily concentrate.

"—say we..." Tatsumi trailed off and became speechless. "Oh."

"And as an orphan, I didn't really have that much options," Adon explained matter-of-factly, his voice flat, giving away no emotion. He sounded robotic, almost mechanical even, like it was a response he had rehearsed a thousand times before. He forcibly finished the last of his rations and looked at the other two who were staring at him warily. "Well, that was until I got adopted."

It was the complete truth, there was no doubt about that. His novel intention, however, was for his statements to be taken out of context. And based on how his companions reacted, it seemed to have worked flawlessly.

"Oh... Uhm..." Tatsumi was slightly taken aback and looked at Brendan for help.

Brendan shook any questioning thoughts out of his mind and coolly shrugged off the revelation, appearing unaffected despite that he was actually taken by surprise as well. Instead, he decided to ask, "Where did you stay before you moved here?"

Adon was glad that he had somehow gotten them easily convinced. It might have been because of the fact that it was nothing out of the ordinary; most of what remained of the world's population were now either widows, widowers or orphans. It was just the kind of world they had come to live in, and it wasn't like they were given much of a choice anyway.

"Somewhere up north," he finally answered after a short pause. The dizziness was worsening and he was slowly losing concentration. It felt like he was swaying back and forth even though his awareness told him that he was perfectly upright in his seat.

"That would explain the accent," Tatsumi asserted with a nod of his head, inwardly relieved at the somewhat auspicious turn of events. "Brendan here came from somewhere on the other side of the world. Uhm... What did you call it again?"

"America." Brendan heaved a long sigh and looked down at his tray. "People used to call it the 'New World'. Now, it's just some ancient kingdom buried in sand," he exclaimed, his voice full of pique and contempt. "They used to call it 'Western Civilization', too. But these days, there's no way of even telling that it really is in the west."

"Hey, are you okay?" Tatsumi suddenly asked worriedly.

Brendan looked up and arched an eyebrow questioningly. He was very much okay. Did Tatsumi think that he would get depressed over such a trivial matter?

Then he noticed that his comrade was in fact not looking at him but to his side. And as soon as he realized that Tatsumi was referring to Adon, the rookie abruptly stood up.

"Sorry, I have to go," he announced all of a sudden. "I'm exhausted."

He quickly fled the table and left both seniors looking uneasy with that very feeble excuse. He felt their gazes on his back, but he remained steadfast and hurriedly marched towards the idle elevator. Without turning around and risking them catching a glimpse of his face, he pressed the button for the Lobby. As soon as the elevator's panels closed behind him, he slumped back against the wall, placing a hand on his face.

Sweat trickled down from his forehead while he steadily breathed in and out. Slowly but surely, his senses came back to him, and after a while, he no longer felt as disoriented. He blinked a few times, and his narrowed vision gradually returned to normal, the blur in his surroundings fading away. His brain, which had somehow become devoid of any thought, thankfully started functioning properly once again.

He didn't know what just happened, but the dizziness had somehow reached its peak. It had come to that point where he felt like he was right about to pass out, as if his whole system just stopped responding and shut down.

It wasn't because of the fatigue, that he was certain of. It was something else entirely—something that he'd been desperately bottling up. But the pressure seemed to have continually built up until it just couldn't withstand anymore. And like a dam breaking, everything simply burst forth in one instant, leaving him completely empty.

He lowered his hand away from his face and watched it shake uncontrollably.

"What's wrong with me?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:**  
><em>

_As per request of **DangerZone**:_

_**Hair: **12 (**Color: **1)**  
>Face: <strong>8 (**Skin: **2)**  
>Voice:<strong> 1_  
><em><strong>Outfit:<strong> Panther Punk Set_


	5. Chapter 4: Proof of Existence

**.-.**

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em>It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.<em>

_- Charles Darwin_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 4: Proof of Existence<strong>_

* * *

><p>What did it mean to be strong? To be stronger? To be the <em>strongest<em>?

These were the questions that currently plagued Tsubaki Amamiya's thoughts.

Old books that she had read from cover to cover talked about how the strong knew how to persevere. Or what didn't kill a person made them stronger. Or how out of the greatest sufferings emerged the strongest souls.

These were all true; whatever kind of strength it was that people had, they only matured and became stronger through failures.

However, the fact remained that these were mere philosophies—unreliable and inconclusive, not to mention very old and no longer relevant. She believed that there was only one kind of strength that truly mattered in this world—the strength to live on. To survive and overcome, no matter what came. To adapt and rise above every challenge and every change.

Failure was not an option.

Throughout her life, she had met countless men and women—valiant, courageous, and yes, strong people. Yet, most of them were already dead. In the end, no matter how strong a person was—in mind, in heart, or in body—should they lose their will to live, they wound up losing their life all the same.

In this lifelong journey that only ended with death, one had to remain strong, and to be absolutely strong simply meant to never lose sight of this.

A lot of people would most likely mock her for such ideology. And she would probably too, if not for the fact that it was because of this very principle that she had remained alive and was able to continue to live in such a rotten world. And it wasn't only her. Most people probably hadn't even realized that they were living by this same principle just by being alive.

Then again, considering what had become of the entirety of this world, to simply live wasn't so simple anymore.

Being strong and living on, and all the while not losing to one's self, were severely no longer enough. One had to never lose to anyone. Or anything for that matter. In other words, one had to become the _strongest._

Life had become a dire battle for survival—a true survival of the fittest. Or to be more fitting, survival of the strongest. It had become the _only _reality of life.

The fact was the weak died out and the strong survived.

She hated it.

Yet, it had been destined from the very beginning.

_"It is the destiny of the weak to be devoured by the strong," _she remembered her father telling her for the first time at a very young age, a time where the Aragami still hadn't appeared. And even far before their time, this was already very true. The weak had always been devoured by strong.

She recognized this truth. In fact, she believed in it.

She hated it.

She hated her father for not being strong enough. She hated herself for not being stronger. She hated whatever existence it was that thought only the strongest should survive.

Shaking off any personal feelings that had somehow managed to overwhelm her at the heat of the moment, she set every other thought aside and went back to her original question, deciding instead to think on what it truly meant to be the _strongest._

Was it to reign supreme above all others? To administer total and absolute dominion over everything? To instigate fear in the hearts of those at the bottom?

Or was it simply a title that belonged to the one who was at the top of the food chain?

If that was indeed the case, then were it the Aragami that were the strongest?

After all, these unnatural beasts had somehow emerged as the dominant species. They appeared and spread throughout the planet, conquering and destroying every indigeneity they set their eyes upon. They toppled mankind's unequaled sovereignty and transformed the whole world into a complete and total wasteland, turning it into their barren turf.

They were strong. _Very _strong. And not only was it their instinct to simply live, but also to devour the weak. This alone made them all the more frightening as creatures that were truly worthy of being the strongest.

Then again, by following this train of thought, it could somehow be assumed that the actual strongest existence was the planet itself. Every species, every life-form, every existence, Aragami and humans included, simply managed to live by standing on whatever stage the Earth set. Should it change and destroy any form of countenance it brought about on its surface, everything would be surely razed into nothing.

But as Tsubaki watched the young man beyond the one-way mirror, she began to doubt this too.

After all, humans still had somehow managed to continue living and surviving in such a world, despite all of the changes. Wasn't this proof of the _strongest_?

_I wouldn't go that far_, she thought to herself. _At least, not yet._

Shaking her head, Tsubaki abandoned all her thoughts and set aside the continually piling questions for later.

Adon Lonwolfe.

Here was a boy who was going to bring about the new change in the planet.

The newest of God Eaters.

The New-type.

* * *

><p>The boisterous sound of a horn echoed inside the room.<p>

The signal of the end.

"...hah... ...hah..."

Adon put his free hand on his knee and slouched, leaving his mouth completely open, wordless. He tried to calm his frantic breathing as the siren sounded, freeing him from his tension and state of adrenaline. The anxiety he had been suppressing the whole time slowly diffused from his body.

His surroundings started to melt, from its endless flat terrain of scorched earth filled with large crags back to its original spotless white-tiled floor and walls. The body of the simulated Ogretail he just defeated liquefied and dissipated into the ground, leaving no trace of its existence. In the span of a few seconds, the large and spacious cuboid room was completely vacated of any solid and liquid matter, save for him and his God Arc and the faint smell of burnt flesh.

Behind the opaque pane of the gallery overlooking the room was a group of people.

"Good work. You're now free to proceed with the rest of your activities," Tsubaki announced through the microphone. She withdrew her finger that was pressed on the 'TALK' button and watched as Adon stood upright and bowed, his God Arc held in his hand. He quickly turned and left the room, leaving behind his adviser and her other companions inside the gallery.

The Simulation Room was the largest chamber within the training complex of the Far East Branch. Using the Bias Factor as a catalyst, through a control computer that was integrated with its own Artificial CNS and hundreds of Oracle Chips, Oracle Cells from a storage below the room were stimulated to completely replicate real-life Aragami within the confines of the room. With the data gathered from the latest Aragami Cores, the replicas were then programmed to act accordingly to their counterparts' natural instincts.

The room also had built-in holographic projectors, and through the use of replicated matter, terrains were actualized into solid existence. By recreating different settings of the various Mission Fields, real-life battles without the risk of fatalities were made possible.

However, the primary use of the room was for combat training and diagnostics of new recruits. In general, it functioned as a cultural repository of narrative possibilities. In other words, a room for experimentation.

And their latest test just ended.

Seated on both sides of Tsubaki were the personnel that handled and monitored the simulations, and behind them stood the current Director of the Far East Branch and the Chief Supervisor of the Aragami Technology Department.

Tsubaki stood up from her seat while carefully studying the data on the various monitor screens that occupied the console. After grabbing and pulling out the sheet of paper that the computer slowly printed out, she turned to her superiors. She bowed her head before handing the paper that provided the results of their monitoring to the Director. "Sir, here it is."

"Hmm..." Johannes took the paper with his left hand and swept his piercing gaze over the numbers and figures that adorned the little sheet of paper. "Extremely high combat capabilities... Great perceptive proficiency... Superior weaponry skills... Everything is off the charts."

"He is quite the intriguing individual, isn't he? He has surpassed even my own presumptions. Such sporadic outcomes..." Doctor Paylor mused, fixing his glasses and all the while smiling. "The effects of the Bias Factor on the human body are truly unpredictable."

Johannes nodded passively, eyes never leaving the paper. "Maybe so."

Paylor carefully studied the face of the unsettled director. Johannes' lips were pressed in a firm line and his face betrayed no emotion, but his eyes were swirling with turmoil as if the perfect storm was brewing inside. Despite his mitigation, Paylor was sure that the same assessment crossed their minds.

This was beyond the effects of the Bias Factor.

This was beyond being a New-type God Eater.

It could only be said that the subject was not the average person.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>The restless God Eater ran down the hallway, breathing quite excessively. If Lindow saw him, he would surely be reprimanded for his uncoordinated breathing. He did, however, have a suitable and very truthful excuse.<p>

He was too tired to think about it.

And it was not like it was his fault that he barely had any time left to rest before his next activity started.

His daily routine consisted of waking up early in the morning, practicing the proper handling of his God Arc, eating lunch and lounging about during an hour-long break, practicing with his God Arc, training in battle with various simulations in the Simulation Room, again practicing with his God Arc, and starting today, listening to a lecture class of Doctor Sakaki's. Did he mention practicing with his God Arc?

In a week and half, they had successfully drained out all sixteen-years worth of youth he had. He just about felt his short, pathetic life burn away. And he had not even been sent out on an official mission yet!

Stopping in front of Doctor Sakaki's Lab, Adon placed one hand on the wall to his side and the other hand on his hip. He tried to calm his heartbeat, which was slamming against his ribs so hard, it was starting to hurt. His legs trembled, the muscles in them howling to be rested even for just the briefest of moments. He heaved a long sigh, inhaling a large amount of air and exhaling it all in one action.

Ignoring the pain that coursed through his nerves and the aches that throbbed all over his body, he lifted his right fist and knocked twice on the door. Not even a second later, an answer came from inside, telling him to go in.

As soon as he opened the door and entered the room, Adon was greeted with the sight of the ever-smiling face of one Doctor Paylor Sakaki. He was standing right at the center of the room, wearing his usual attire. The rookie took note of the blank white board obscuring his view of the desk with the multiple monitor screens.

He was unprepared. Were they supposed to take notes during class? He didn't even know that it was _this _kind of lecture. He hadn't really expected that being a God Eater entailed learning lessons like what academic students did so in school.

"There you are! We've been waiting for you." The Doctor gestured to the couch on the side. "Please take a seat."

The newcomer nodded and made his way toward the couch. Already seated down was his fellow rookie, the trademarked Kota-grin pasted on his childish face.

Kota waved at him. "Hey. What took you so long?" Adon sat on the other end of the couch, groaning out an incoherent response. "Man, you look horrible."

"Tell me about it," Adon moaned, letting his head loll back as he slumped on the soft sofa with outstretched legs. Finally getting their long-overdue rest, his muscles seemed to cry out in delight. If he had the strength, he might as well have let them jump for joy.

This was a good time as any to sleep. Or at least he thought so.

Paylor clapped his hands to get their attention, shifting his gaze from one student to the other. "All right! Let's jump right to it, shall we? What do you think an Aragami is?"

There was a long pause.

The Doctor stared and waited for an answer that was quite obviously never coming. The two simply stared right back at him with blank expressions on their faces.

_Aragami_, Adon repeated to himself as he fixed his posture, sitting erect on the couch.

He already had a rough idea about what the Aragami were. From what he had read on NORN and heard from other people, they were some sort of mutated creatures that appeared out of nowhere sometime in the past 20 years. Humans compared their existence to 'gods', and eventually called them 'Aragami', roughly translating to 'Raging Gods'.

In an extremely short period of time, these savage beings had managed to wipe out most of the planet's population. The only reason mankind had even somehow managed to survive was because of Fenrir Corporation, a pharmaceutical company that specialized in biotechnology.

Just thinking about it gave Adon the chills.

"Uhm..." Kota started, but Doctor Sakaki gave him no chance to answer.

"The nemesis of humankind. An absolute predator. Destroyer of the world!" Paylor's voice heightened each time, like an excited child that was sharing his discoveries. "Well, that about sums it up," he finished with a nod of his head.

_What was the point of even asking? _Adon thought to himself while the Doctor proceeded with his lecture.

Paylor clamped his hands together behind his back. "Now then, these aren't misconceptions. Rather, you could say that these are quite suitable epithets, or more accurately monikers, if you will. It means one simply has his eyes fixed on the phenomena before him." He paused for a brief moment and eyed the two rookies, giving them time to to let it all sink in. Then he raised a finger. "Okay, I have another question. Have you ever wondered how and _why_ the Aragami came into being?"

Adon and Kota both nodded at the same time but otherwise remained silent. They decided to shut their mouths and wait, watching the Doctor slowly pace back and forth in front of them. The question was most likely rhetorical. And as they had figured, Paylor answered on his own again.

"As you probably already know, the Aragami just appeared out of nowhere one day. And since then, their numbers exploded in a very alarming rate!" He stopped pacing and nodded in agreement with his own thoughts. "Yep! It was as if they were ripping right through every evolutionary process there is! They adapted and they mutated, even completely passing over the natural selection of plausible biological traits. This is what you would call very unnatural. Yes, very unnatural indeed."

Doctor Sakaki, continuing with his lecture, then discussed about the diversity of certain evolutionary processes and their non-adaptive causes.

Completely bored, Kota yawned and stretched out his arms. He looked at his fellow rookie and, his voice barely a whisper, asked, "Does this lecture even have a point? I mean, what do we care about the reason for the existence of Aragami? There's no need as long as we beat them down, right?"

Adon looked back at him and shrugged his shoulders, not really bothered, although he did feel as equally bored.

"Sure about that?" the Doctor suddenly asked. Kota jerked his head back in surprise as Paylor, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, leaned his face as close as he could to the young God Eater's.

"Uhm..." With barely an inch separating their faces, Kota's eyes crossed while he tried to look at the eccentric doctor's non-opened eyes that somehow still managed to bore their gaze into his face. He gulped. He didn't mean for Doctor Sakaki to hear him. "Doctor_—_"

"An Aragami has no brain." Paylor lightly flicked Kota in the head with a finger to emphasize, effectively cutting off whatever the brunette was about to say. Then he pointed and tapped at the God Eater's chest. "Neither does it have a heart, nor even spinal fluid. We frail humans will perish if we get blasted in the head or the chest, but that alone is not enough to bring down an Aragami."

Adon's lips curled into an amused smirk as he watched the scene from the sidelines. Originally, all he wanted to do was sneakily sleep through the lecture since he was absolutely tired. In fact, it was taking his all just to keep his eyes from drooping shut, not to mention his brain was barely able to process half of Doctor Sakaki's statements. However, seeing his friend being played with made listening to the boring lecture totally worth it.

Kota sighed in relief when their teacher finally drew back. Paylor stood straight and placed his hands on his hips.

"An Aragami is a cluster of Oracle Cells, each of which is a single-cell organism that thinks and preys on others," he continued as he slowly backed away. He looked at young Kota, who still had a blank expression on his face. But as he glanced at Adon, the smile he always had on his face widened slightly. The significance of his statement seemed to have taken its effect on the other boy.

"An Aragami is a cluster of Oracle Cells." Adon mumbled to himself. He hadn't really thought of it that way. That certainly explained a lot.

Kota heard and looked at him, inclining his head as if to ask, _So what?_

Paylor nodded. "That's right! An Aragami is, in itself, a colony of thousands... No, make that hundreds of thousands of life-forms. And this powerful and graceful fusion of cells can't be destroyed by any conventional weapon. Well, not the ones we have anyway." He then looked pointedly at Kota and asked, "So, how on earth are you people supposed to battle these Aragami?"

Kota scrunched his nose in thought. "Uhm... Let's see... Just keep slashing and blasting them with our God Arcs?" he replied after a moment, his response coming out more as a question than an actual answer.

The Doctor nodded in delight. "Yes. The answer is by using a bio-weapon embedded with the same Oracle Cells, the God Arc! It is the only way to stop the fusing of an Aragami's Oracle Cells. However, this can also cause rogue cell colonies to re-fuse, and then form a new entity. The best thing to do would be to extract the Aragami Core, the cell colony serving as a command center. But this is extraordinarily difficult to do. Even with God Arcs, we have no way to deliver a decisive blow."

Adon remembered what Licca had told him about the God Arcs—how Oracle Cells were lined up along their blades to harm the Aragami. Everything made sense now. Typical blades could obviously not harm an Aragami because of the bonds between their cells being too strong to unbind. But with God Arcs, the Oracle Cells allow the blade to cut these bonds and deal some actual damage to the Aragami.

Doctor Sakaki fixed his glasses that slightly slanted due to his constant movement. He continued, "Somewhere along the way, the people likened this absolute being to countless gods that have been passed down around here. And they started to call it Aragami." That, Adon already knew. After pausing and smiling at the two rookies, Paylor clapped his hands. "All right! That's it for today's lecture. I'd like you to refer to the NORN database in the terminal for more details about the Aragami. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the two saluted.

They both sighed in relief as soon as they exited the room. "Man, glad that's finally over. He sure can talk."

"Oh gee, what gave you that idea?" asked Adon, his voice obviously dripping with sarcasm.

Kota, who was either ignorant to his friend's sarcastic tone or was just plain ignorant, continued to smile. "Hey, wanna check on the others? I bet they're back from patrol."

Adon was slightly annoyed at this invitation. Kota was practically rubbing it in his face how he had an easier time with his training. On the other hand, he was just about ready to collapse. Well, that's how he saw it anyway. "I'll pass. Too tired."

Kota shrugged, telling him, "Suit yourself," and went on his merry way.

* * *

><p>After doffing his soaked and dirty outfit and changing into a pair of loose trousers, Adon almost fell at once in a restless sleep.<p>

But somehow, he just ended up laying on his bed, staring up at the plain ceiling with absolutely no thought occupying his mind. He stared at it for so long, he swore it moved. _Great. Now, I'm losing my mind_, he thought. It amazed him, however, how ceilings could occupy so much time. Like walls, they were not really interesting._  
><em>

"But for some reason, you just have to look at them every chance you get," he mumbled. He almost laughed out loud at his own statement. It sounded just as stupid as when he thought it in his head. _Huh. It was a joke, but I guess I really am losing my mind._

Maybe it was the fatigue. After all, it had been hell the past how many days, and it was taking its toll on his body. He was completely exhausted of strength, barely not enough left to even lift his battered and bruised limbs for long periods of time. At this rate, he would probably flake out on his first mission.

For now, however, he relished this moment of absence of any other presence. This was his type of environment. Sure, he appreciated the conviviality he usually felt whenever he was with his friends and comrades. But this was more his preference_—_being alone, in solitude, with no one bothering him.

He wasn't an antisocial, per se. He was more of an introvert, really, who simply enjoyed the company of himself more than the company of others.

He lifted his right hand and swept it through his hair, chuckling bitterly to himself. _Who are you kidding._

It was all just an excuse, after all. One that he had consistently told others. He knew firsthand that it wasn't true. It was complete _bullshit_.

...To be alone.

...To be always alone.

...To be _forever _alone.

That was how he had to live, regardless of his continuously changing circumstances. There was no escaping what he was.

A Lone Wolf.

("_...you must not allow yourself to forget this..._")

Adon lightly traced a finger over the unconcealed scar on his left shoulder, not for comfort, but to remind himself. He then sighed and finally squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that sleep would provide some actual comfort.


	6. Chapter 5: D-Day

**.-.**

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em>You are the bane of my existence<em>

_You are the malice that is slowly burning in my head_  
><em>You are the monster under my skin making me scared<em>  
><em>You are the hatred ignited consuming my very soul<em>  
><em>You are the weight on my back pinning me down unto the soil<em>

_You are the champion of champions whom garners unrivaled fear_  
><em>You are the greatest of actors that wears a mask un-tear<em>  
><em>You are the foolish fool alone who gulls to survive and free<em>  
><em>You are the sole person I do not ever want to be<em>

_You are the bane of my existence_

_- You are me_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Chapter 5: D-day<em>**

* * *

><p>Adon stared.<p>

And stared.

And stared.

What looked back at him was nothing short of a perfectly forged domino, a vacuous face steeled to conceal any sign of verity. It was beauty at its finest; a fabricated illusion that completely shaded the corrupt within.

_Ironic_, he laughed bitterly at the boy he no longer knew. After all, it was that very comely facade that practically gave away the incognito itself.

Having seen enough, he closed his eyes just as the reflection in the mirror did the same. He then took hold of the clean and dry towel he had slung over his shoulder and proceeded to wipe his wet face, then his hair and the rest of his body.

Today had finally come.

After a grueling two-week training ("_This is Basic Combat Training? You've got to be kidding me!_" complained Kota), it was finally the day of his first mission, the true test of his mettle and worth as a God Eater. The culmination of everything that he had experienced thus far, it all came down to the moment at hand.

Adon looked up once more at the mirror as a fierce resolve stamped itself on his face.

He then exited the small bathroom and changed into his combat clothes. They were all Fenrir-issued, bearing the unmistakable emblem of a wolf's face. For once, he felt completely exposed while wearing them as uneasiness settled in the pit of his stomach. He all but wanted to just get it all over with, yet time was moving painfully slow.

Shaking off his apprehension, he moved towards the bed. And once again he stared.

And stared.

And stared.

What merited his gaze this time around was completely incapable of looking back at him, however. Exclusively dark like it was dipped in black dye, its edges emblazoned with long seams of pale azure, it was an honorary jacket, elegantly laid out on his bed. And if he were to turn it around, he would have easily spotted the large Fenrir logo in gold intricately printed on its back.

But what really caught his attention was the _something_ that was poking out of the front pocket: a sealed white envelope.

He picked it up and noted the official Fenrir insignia on the front before ripping it open. He unfolded the paper that was meticulously placed inside and skimmed through the long list.

It was his employment contract, perfectly detailing out agreements, proper conduct, the Fenrir code, et cetera. He was expected to set an example to others as a respectable God Eater. As an exemplary representative, he had to uphold Fenrir's reputation. He was not considered above the general populace when it came to rules.

These were all things that Tsubaki had practically pounded into him before he even started with their Basic Combat Training. There was nothing new in the whole document, aside from the requirement of signing the agreement itself.

He folded the paper and placed it back inside the envelope, flipping it unto the bed right after. He decided to sign it later. There were more pressing matters he had do at the moment, namely finishing his preparations for the mission.

He walked towards the long wooden table by his bed where his Fenrir-provided equipment belt was slung over. He then donned the black belt around his waist and checked for his supplies.

It had half a dozen pouches in varying sizes, small ones for medicament and larger ones for miscellaneous items. There was a good amount of Restore Pills in the right pouch; regular meds that amazingly recovered one's strength in a flash. Inside the pouch next to it were a few Detox Pills and Anti-Leak Doses; medications against infections—Venom and Leak respectively. And in a large pouch on the left portion of the belt were various Boosters, to be injected into the body only in dire situations. The side effects were somewhat adverse, and if they were used carelessly, the effects could be fatal.

Lastly, his back-up weapon. He approached his compact luggage bag and zipped it open. The ten-inch dark combat knife was adeptly hidden inside a secret compartment. With the ease that came with having mastered the weapon, he reached inside and took the blade out.

For a few moments, he just eyed the item with a bit of contempt. Then he slid it into the sheath strapped around his lower leg, concealing it underneath his trousers.

With his preparations complete, the rookie left his room, the accursed blade that was an eternal memento of his past once again in contact with his flesh.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>The ear-piercing drill of the helicopter's rotor made conversation hardly possible.<p>

With nothing better to do but wait, the trio of God Eaters leaned back and relaxed inside the chopper's cabin. Nobody spoke. The only sound was the roar of the engine as the helicopter sailed high above the ground. Every so often, it would rattle and shake from some slight turbulence, but otherwise, the journey was smooth, calm... and boring.

At least, that's what Kota thought. Unlike Lindow and Adon, he found himself unable to relax. He felt like a kid who _really _needed to use the bathroom. His body was tense, like a coiled spring waiting to be released. And simply sitting around made him even more nervous. All he longed for was to get out on the battlefield and prove himself. Especially to Sakuya, and especially after _that _incident. He inwardly shuddered at the memory.

Bored out of his mind, Kota looked over at Adon, who was silently sitting next to him. The raven-haired recruit was staring down at the steel floor, his arms folded over his knees. Kota wanted to ask his fellow rookie what he was thinking. He had been silent all morning, during breakfast and even throughout the entirety of their mission briefing.

Kota opened his mouth to speak, but he shook his head and clamped his mouth shut instead, recalling how easily the other rookie got irritated. Most likely, Adon was only anxious about the mission just as he was.

His eyes were then drawn to the God Arc at the New-type's side. Aside from witnessing Clemencor being used by its owner during training sessions, this was the first time Kota had seen it up close. And he knew for a fact that it was very difficult to master, for he himself was already having a hard time with his own long-range God Arc. How much more one that was able to change forms from a Blade to a Gun and vice versa.

He stared at the God Arc for a long while, and somehow. he felt his growing anxiety drown in its tint that equaled the dark cerulean depths of the ocean. Overwhelmed with placidity, even he himself was surprised when his now-calm brain was somehow able to process where it got its name from.

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>The bringer of day shone brightly over the horizon, lighting up the wide expanse with a majestic golden hue, with a few light and wispy clouds sailing slowly over the tranquil sea-blue sky. It was a beautifully crisp and clear day, fully vibrant with colors of life.<p>

However, the same couldn't be said about the abandoned city that was simply crawling with death.

The helicopter flew over what Adon deduced was the business district. He supposed that, in its heyday, it bustled with so much activity and energy that he himself might have been vitalized with the noise alone. But now, it was just simply dead.

There were dozens of tall buildings, some leaning to the side as if threatening to collapse. Their metallic skeletal frames protruded out of broken windows, and large cracks and punctures decorated most of the corroded structures, with thick and wide gaping holes present in the most unfathomable of heights.

Cars and trucks, most still unbelievably intact, were left in the middle of the streets, seemingly abandoned in panic when the pandemonium first hit. Debris—chunks of them—littered every block, and cements jutted upwards wherever the roads were severed, revealing shallow but long trenches.

A few blocks further was what appeared to be a residential area, a tall and thick steel barricade enclosing its entirety. Houses were evenly spread out in the neighborhood, albeit most were razed into the ground. At its center stood a rundown but still very recognizable church.

"We're here!" the pilot reported over the speaker as the group arrived at their destination.

Adon felt the helicopter slow down to a hover, though it didn't descend as he had expected.

"Alright! This is it!" Lindow shouted at the top of his lungs to be heard over the rumbling noise. "I just have a few last-minute reminders! You have three orders!"

"Huh! What!" Kota screamed just as loud, but they still weren't able to hear each other.

"Don't die!"

_One... _Adon counted.

"If your number's up, get out!"

_And two..._

"Lastly, hide!"

_That's three..._

"If you get lucky, catch the enemy off-guard and blast it!"

_...Four?_ Adon shook his head and decided not to question the minor slip-up.

"Ready? Here we go!" Lindow grinned widely before flinging himself out the open hatch without another word.

"What the—?" Kota's eyes widened, and the two recruits scrambled towards the door. They watched in astonishment as their superior soared in the air with his God Arc in hand. "Are we supposed to jump too? No way!"

In a matter of seconds, Lindow landed on solid ground, a cloud of dust encircling him. He looked like a tiny ant from the helicopter, and even though Adon couldn't see, he was sure Lindow was grinning up at them, eagerly waiting.

Another realization of Adon's during his training and simulations was that his reflexes had somehow improved drastically; his bones and muscles strengthened even to the point of indestructibility. He found himself being capable of doing things that were humanly impossible. Jumping down from a hundred feet in the air was obviously one of those possibilities that he most likely could do now.

"If he can do it, then so can we," he stated as calmly as he could, ignoring the unquestionable uncertainty that was rising inside him. He then fixed his backpack that was slung over his shoulder, and before he could hesitate any further, he jumped out of the chopper, a hand firmly gripped on his God Arc.

"Hey! Wait! Argh, damn it!" Kota stomped a foot in frustration. He watched his fellow rookie land safely on the ground. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and steadied himself in front of the hatch. "Here goes nothing... Geronimooo!"

For a few seconds, as Kota descended in speeds that were well past safety limits, all he could hear was the pressure of the rushing wind in his ears. He couldn't even hear his own screams.

"Imgonnadie, imgonnadie... I'M GONNA DIE!" Kota closed his eyes shut and clung to his God Arc, bracing himself for the worst.

But the next thing he knew, he was already on his feet on the ground. He pried open his eyes, and as if fear never gripped him, he grinned and whooped with exhilaration.

"Whoa! Let's do that again!"

Adon shook his head. "You didn't even want to do it in the first place, and now you want to do it all over again?"

Lindow chuckled as Kota scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "You'll have plenty more of that on your next missions," Lindow grinned back at the thrilled rookie, then his face relaxed into a more solemn expression. "For now, all you have to worry about is to survive. Just follow that order, and everything else will be fine. Alright! Let's get this show on the road!"

* * *

><p><strong>.-.<strong>

* * *

><p>Earlier that day, Tsubaki had briefed them on their mission and objectives.<p>

"This is to be a standard search and destroy operation. We have received reports of numerous Ogretail sightings in the Old City from our scouts. Your mission: eliminate them as soon as possible," was what Tsubaki said, but all Kota heard was, "Blah, blah blah blah: blah. Blah!"

"Ugh, this is _sooo_ boring. The monster-pounding part, I totally dig. This brain-killing briefing part, not so much," Kota grumbled from where he sat in front of a table inside the dimly lit Briefing Room.

Next to him, Lindow chuckled and put an arm around the boy's shoulders. "You better get used to it, kid. These briefings are part of normal operation procedures."

"Aww... I never thought that being a God Eater is so much like being a student. This sucks." Kota crossed his arms over his chest. Then he turned to his other side where Adon was sitting. His friend had been staring attentively at the projected screen the whole time. "Hey, Adon. What do you think?"

Said rookie turned his head slightly and looked at Kota from the corner of his eye to acknowledge that he had heard, but other than that, he remained completely silent and ignored the question. He was more preoccupied with his own thoughts, wondering how the mission would turn out.

Still, in the end, what mattered most was his duty as a God Eater to complete the objective with the best of his abilities.

Nonetheless, he couldn't help but wonder. To him, getting assigned this mission seemed a bit too quick, despite that it was not at all unusual. After all, it was only natural for Fenrir to make good use of its 'resources', and the sooner the new recruits got used to going out on missions, the better.

_Tsk. Fenrir... They're all the same_, Adon thought bitterly. They used people however and whenever they wanted, and for whatever purposes that would ultimately pleasure themselves.

Tsubaki was oblivious to his concerns and thoughts, however, and simply continued with her lecture.

"Up until now, we've been protecting you. From now on, you'll be the ones who will do the protecting. Never forget to use your best judgement on whatever circumstance, and always follow orders. Is that clear?"

Both new God Eaters nodded and saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Tsubaki turned her gaze towards Lindow and shot him a look. He merely rolled his eyes and muttered, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Lindow is the commanding officer, and he'll be supervising your actions in this mission. Adon and Kota, this will be your initiation into the field. You two are expected to obey and carry out every single one of your leader's plans. That is all. Dismissed!"

* * *

><p>And that was exactly what they did: follow their leader's plans. Sadly...<p>

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"...No. We're just taking a detour."

Adon rolled his eyes. "Right."

Lindow always talked to them about how Tsubaki was a 'huge klutz', yet he was the one who was always acting like a blockhead.

It had been a half-hour since they had arrived at the City of Mercy, and there were still no signs of Ogretails in the vicinity of the residential area. Or any Aragami for that matter.

Lindow had insisted that they were going through a 'shortcut', but Adon was starting to think that he just really had no idea where he was going.

Another half-hour passed, and Lindow finally stopped walking and stood next to a tall building. He impaled his God Arc on the ground and reached into his pocket, checking his electronic map of the area. He looked over it for a while, tilting it on all sides to check if he was actually looking at it right, then he scratched the back of his neck.

"Hmm... Something's wrong. The reports said that there are supposed to be about a dozen Ogretails in this area. We've been going around for an hour, and we still haven't seen any sign of them."

"And...?" Adon prodded.

Lindow sighed in resignation. "I think we're lost."

Adon groaned. "I knew it."

"Now, what?" Kota asked. "I'm no expert on this region's geology."

"Geography," Adon corrected.

Kota blinked blankly at him. "That's what I said."

_Great... Just great_, the frustrated rookie thought sarcastically as he ran a hand down his face. This was exactly what he needed. A leader who couldn't count properly and had no sense of direction, and a backup with vocabulary problems. It couldn't have been any better.

"Well, standing around isn't going to do us any good. Let's keep moving," Lindow ordered.

They were about to move again when the ground suddenly rumbled, effectively stopping the trio in their tracks. They looked around, scanning their surroundings, all the while clutching their God Arcs tightly. Lindow put a finger to his lips and silently crept towards the corner of the building, the young recruits following closely behind.

Adon watched as his superior carefully peeked around the corner. Then there was a drilling roar. The rumbling drew closer, and the next long moments became a fast blur of scenes with dozens of screams and shouts.


	7. Chapter 6: Mission Start

**.-.**

* * *

><p><strong>— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —<strong>

**Howl at the Moon**

**— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 6: Mission Start<strong>_

* * *

><p>The ground shook underneath their feet as the large creature charged towards them. Flaunting a lower body that consisted of two large, powerful hind limbs that bore two clawed digits each, sans the almost non-existent fore limbs and the thick dark fur covering its upper body, it resembled much of a smaller version of a very ancient and extinct race of dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus. Its distinguishing characteristics were its two razor-sharp upturned fangs, protruding from its lower shark-like jaw as if it were a pair of large horns.<p>

Adon quickly recognized the Aragami, its giant tail sporting an ogre-like face from which it got its name. The Ogretail might have been an Aragami of the lower spectrum in size, but nevertheless, it boasted the largest population of all Aragami, rapidly increasing in number in various regions around the world. It was the Sewer Rat of the Aragami—a scavenger that devoured just about anything it set its eyes upon.

That was one way to look at it, he supposed.

Then again, unlike a Sewer Rat, it was immensely deadly and stood about twice the height of the average human; possessed no intelligence, only the instinctive need to hunt and kill and Devour.

The trio of God Eaters only had a split second to leap apart as it came at them. It went by so close, they practically felt the air whooshing before them.

"Split up! Go for the flanks!" Lindow shouted his orders while he swiped his God Arc at the Aragami's snout, jumping back right away as it tried to take a bite at him.

"Gotcha!"

Both rookies nodded in understanding and quickly separated. They'd taken the same training courses after all. The idea was to sneak around the Ogretail and attack from both sides while Lindow held its attention from the front. That gave them the important advantage of making sure the Aragami wasn't able to attack the three of them at the same time.

Adon ran to the Ogretail's left while Kota went to its right, the trio forming a triangle around the Aragami.

It stopped attacking Lindow and paused for a moment, shifting around to look at each of them. Completely confused, it growled at no one in particular, and that cued the God Eaters to start attacking. Lindow struck first, dashing forward and smashing his God Arc at the side of the distracted Ogretail's head. There was a resounding _crack_ as the monster got thrown off-balance.

"Take this! For freedom!" Kota screamed all the while wasting away bullets on the Ogretail's side. It was futile, but at least he was hitting his mark.

The Ogretail roared defiantly as it bucked sideways from the force of the continuous barrage. The amount of damage Kota had dealt should have reduced just about anything to ashes by now. However, with its extremely thick hide, the Ogretail remained in one complete piece. The attack actually did nothing but annoy it just even more.

_For freedom? Seriously, Kota?_ Adon thought as he rushed the enemy from its left. Under other circumstances, he would've bit back a remark at his fellow rookie, but at the moment he was concentrated on dealing some serious damage to the Ogretail. He felt both nervous and excited at the prospect of finally slaying his first Aragami, to finally be recognized as a full-blown God Eater.

He moved swiftly and silently toward the Ogretail, like a wolf about to prowl on its prey. But it saw him coming from the corner of its eye and swung its spiked tail at him like a club. He drifted to a stop and rolled aside just in time for the attack to swish right above him. Taking advantage of the Aragami's moment of confusion, he slashed a few swipes at its limbs, drawing blood and causing it to howl in pain.

His short victory came to a halting end, however, as the Aragami's tail came swinging back at him and launched his body way away from the battlefield. All of the breath in his lungs left him, completely forgetting to return. And it hurt like hell!

A normal human being would have suffered serious injuries from such a blow, possibly even fatal. But Adon was no longer like any other normal human. What he had realized after his countless training sessions and simulations was that, with the Bias Factor flowing in his veins, not only did his reflexes and strength improve, but even his body was completely enhanced and toughened. Jumping down a helicopter from a hundred feet in the air was nothing compared to the things he could now do. Or take.

He heard Kota scream his name as he was thrown into the air. The blow hit him square in the chest, and he expected a few broken ribs. However, despite that it felt like a wrecking ball just came at him at a hundred miles per hour, for all intents and purposes of turning his bones into goo, all it actually did was just throw him tens of feet away with nothing but a few scratches and a possible muscle ache later on.

Still, it was enough to take him out of the fight for a few seconds.

While Adon tried to regain his bearings, Kota and Lindow kept the Aragami at bay, shouting profanities at it as if it could understand a word they were saying.

With less enemies to worry about, the Ogretail focused on the more dangerous threat of the two: the other melee fighter. It roared and started tromping toward Lindow, eager for some vengeance.

He remained completely still, however, as the Ogretail came closing in, its smoldering eyes glowing with furious hate. He knew he could easily outrun the thing, even when not in Burst, but he stood his ground and waited patiently. At the very last moment, he slid his feet apart and jumped to the side.

The Aragami came barreling past, the smell of thousands of pounds of Oracle Cells stinging his senses. He scrunched his nose in disgust. He hated that scent—that scent of something rotten, like burnt flesh.

He watched the Ogretail slow down to a stop. As the monster regained its footing, it turned around and roared at him in frustration, then it recoiled as it received another set of blasts from Kota.

"Take this! And this!" shouted the trigger-happy God Eater. He was screaming and cackling wildly like a maniac as he drove the enemy back. "Die, die, die!"

Lindow rolled his eyes at the thrilled rookie. "Sheesh. Newbies," he muttered. "Hey, Kota! That's enough! You'll ru—"

He was cut off as a loud explosion suddenly erupted a couple of feet to his side followed by a thunderous roar.

"What the—?"

The wall and roof of the house next to him caved in and crumbled down, forming a large cloud of dust, and right out of the cloud came charging another Ogretail, its snapping jaws aimed directly at his head.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!"

The new Aragami charged at him with all of its strength, seemingly invigorated at the thought of fresh prey, only to be met and stopped with a loud metallic _clang!_

Caught off-guard, Lindow only had enough time to shield himself with his God Arc, barely but nonetheless effectively stopping the Aragami in its tracks. The tremulous force of impact struck and shook his body. He grunted and steadied his feet on the ground as the Ogretail tried to push him backward with its large head.

He quickly thought on what to do next. If he maintained their arrangement, they would be stuck in a standstill and it would become a matter of which of them held out longer.

But, then again, if he were to just abruptly move away, he would risk getting trampled underneath its weight and getting squished like a bug.

While he debated his options, his right foot suddenly slipped from underneath him. It was either because he was simply out of practice or the Ogretail was in fact much stronger than he had initially expected. But since he was quite the seasoned, combat-ready veteran, it was highly unlikely that he had just suddenly gone rusty. The reason was obviously the latter.

_This one is sure damn powerful—!_

He gritted his teeth as he was pushed into kneeling on one foot. This was one hell of a predicament he was put in. He was very much aware of the fact that he would most likely not last long in this position, not to mention he had pretty much run out of options.

And judging from its newly gained fervor, the Ogretail seemed to have come to this same conclusion, somewhat having sensed its prey's enfeeblement.

In spite of all this, however, he was still quite sure of one thing.

_I'm not going to die here. Not today!_

After all, it was _his _first and foremost order to not die. He could not just go around disobeying his own order, now could he?

With all of his willpower, he planted his right foot firmly back on the ground and put all of his strength into pushing back. His enemy momentarily paused from this sudden force and took an involuntary step back. It was all the time he needed to move out of its way.

In quick successive movements, he rolled to the side and followed up with a slice of his God Arc at the Ogretail's body just as it went storming past and came crashing right into the nearest house. The earth shuddered beneath his feet while there erupted an ear-rending sound of wreckage—the sound of a structure being leveled. He knew then that the Ogretail had been dealt with. Not dead, but at least momentarily incapacitated.

He sighed and took a much needed deep breath. He had to admit, that was a close call. _Pretty damn close_, he thought to himself bitterly.

Thankful for this moment of respite, he took the opportunity to survey their situation.

Adon was back to holding himself against the other Ogretail, with Kota backing him up from a safe distance all the while shouting expletives. They both appeared unharmed, Adon seemingly sustaining only minor injuries from the previous blow he took.

The dilemma now was quickly dealing with both enemies before even more appeared. The reports did say of numerous Ogretail sightings.

On a side-note, he expressed his disdain on sending two rookies on such a mission. Alone, he would have had a field day dealing with multiple Aragami. But taking care of two other God Eaters, especially rookies, was a much more complicated task.

Why did the babysitting job always fall on him? Why didn't they give it to Soma instead?

Lindow paused.

He shook his head. Right, stupid question.

At that moment, large debris exploded from behind him as the Ogretail used its hard head to bust its way out of the large slabs of pavement.

"Ugh! Damn it!" he groaned. This was a very annoying one. It didn't even give him enough time to take a quick smoke.

He ran and charged at the Aragami with his God Arc, seemingly about to meet it head-on. But right before he would have clashed with the large beast, he halted to a sudden stop and spun on one heel, swinging his large blade in a circular arc. The perfectly calculated blow landed on the side of the Ogretail's face, causing it to stagger sideways.

With the enemy momentarily dazed, he violently sliced and diced the monster with dozens of hefty swipes, driving it back and building some distance. It recoiled and roared as he stabbed and slashed at it, then he would rear back each time it tried to bite his head off with a _snap _and he would strike right back with another attack of his own.

As the battle prolonged, however, the Ogretail seemed to adapt to his movements. It started to move more swiftly and smartly, perfectly timing its attacks and even jumping back at the right moments to dodge his oncoming large blade.

To say that Lindow was surprised was a complete understatement. He was absolutely flabbergasted. This was the first time he was having such a hard time dealing with an Ogretail. Usually, all it took were a few swings and stabs to its sides and legs. One clean blow—one fell swoop—and it should have been done for.

Well, he was in for a _shock_. Literally.

The one thing that he truly didn't expect was for the _thing_—whatever it actually was—to shoot electric needles right at him. It was literallya _bolt _out of the blue. He only had enough time to lean sideways to avoid getting hit by the lightning-induced projectiles.

Completely enthralled by the sparking needles that whooshed just right past his head, he was caught off-guard once again as the Ogretail swung its tail at his feet. He fell on his back to the ground, eyes wide in bewilderment. But, quickly composing himself, he rolled away just in time to avoid getting squished under the weight of the lunging Aragami.

As he righted himself up, the _thing_ remained still and studied his movements with watchful, learning eyes. He narrowed his eyes.

Testing the waters, he slowly walked sideways with short steps, and the Aragami mimicked him, taking a few steps to the side as well. Then they began to encircle each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move.

Obviously, something was very different with this Ogretail. It was completely unlike the normal one, what with its enhanced fighting skills and ability to generate lightning. And now that he paid closer attention, he finally noticed the peculiar physical details. There _was_ a distinguishable difference. This one appeared to be more gaunt and skeletal than the usual thick-skinned and scaly Ogretail, its bones seeming to frame its bulging tissues, but nonetheless muscular and powerfully built.

And as it stared right back at him, its eyes appeared electric, as if it was actually thinking and assessing the situation.

Lindow reprimanded himself for overlooking _that_ important step, and he couldn't believe his enemy—an Aragami at that—was actually doing a much better job at it. Again, it was a freaking Aragami!

His failure to observe his foe much earlier might have led to his undoing if he weren't so lucky.

There was no excuse for such a mistake, even if everything about this situation—from the sudden appearance of these Aragami that were most probably evolved Ogretails, and quite the intelligent ones, to the rookies lack of training, not to mention one being a New-type—was undoubtedly unprecedented.

However—sure, the enemy might have been new—the situation was still not anything unfamiliar. After all, he had single-handedly taken down Aragami of more epic proportions than this one before. This was a piece of cake compared to the large high-storied ones he usually had to deal with.

Finally taking the fight a little more seriously, he straightened his stance and gripped his God Arc tighter with both hands.

"You hungry, Sparky? Come here and try me."

Meanwhile, Adon and Kota made sure their Ogretail was focused on them. After a few unsuccessful attempts to Devour the Aragami, Adon drew back and opted to use his God Arc in gun form. Both rookies peppered the helpless Ogretail with dozens of bullets, driving it back and securing their distance from the monster, although they were dealing very minimal damage.

Adon knew they were in trouble. As far as he knew, the enemy shouldn't be this complicated to deal with, and from his experiences during his training, a normal Ogretail shouldn't be this sturdy. There was something different about this one.

Then the hair on the back of his neck suddenly rose.

As if to prove his speculation right, the Ogretail summoned a ball of electricity with its tail and shot it at him. His eyes widened as the projectile hurtled toward him. He jumped back just in time as it exploded right before him, leaving a large scorch mark on the ground where he just had been.

_That_, particularly, had never been a part of any simulation he'd undergone.

"Holy shit!" Kota exclaimed, horrified. "What's with this thing!"

"It's not a normal Ogretail," explained an exasperated Adon. _Obviously. _This wasn't what he signed up for—to die on his first day on the job. They had to do something, fast. Anything, really, before—

"Oh, crap! I'm about to run out of bullets!" Kota screamed.

Right, before _that_.

It didn't seem to affect Kota, however, as he just kept on firing at the Aragami.

_Idiot_, Adon cursed. Thinking quickly, he knelt on the ground and unslung his backpack, hurriedly unzipping it open. He fiddled around with its contents, and when he finally felt the metallic canister at the tip of his fingertips, he coiled his hand around it and took it out.

"Fall back!" he shouted at Kota, then he pulled the safety pin off of the Stun Grenade and threw the explosive at the direction of the Ogretail.

There was a loud, deafening blast.

Then blinding light.

Then silence.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** That's the first part. The action is far from over!

Anyway, if you noticed, I changed a few things. A notable one is in the game, Licca's dad is supposed to be dead. Well, I have a few plans for him, so I made him MIA in this story instead.

Review, plox!


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